Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Down 2%

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)’s share price traded down 2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $65.52 and last traded at $65.57. 1,408,623 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,759,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.20.

Block Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a PE ratio of 84.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.96.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total value of $76,355.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 271,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,066,698.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,784 shares of company stock valued at $772,623. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Block by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

About Block

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.