Block (NYSE:SQ) Trading Down 1%

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)’s share price dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $64.70 and last traded at $64.97. Approximately 1,306,358 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 8,716,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SQ. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. William Blair upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.20.

Block Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.90. The company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,784 shares of company stock valued at $772,623. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.