StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Block (NYSE:SQ)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.10.

Block Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market cap of $53.90 billion, a PE ratio of 48.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.51. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $162,836.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 86,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,863,894.30. This represents a 2.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in Block in the third quarter worth about $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the period. Woodson Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 358.4% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,793,000 after purchasing an additional 393,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,445,000. 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.