Block's (SQ) "Positive" Rating Reaffirmed at Susquehanna

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "positive" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Susquehanna in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $100.00 price objective on the technology company's stock. Susquehanna's target price indicates a potential upside of 39.65% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.67.

Block Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SQ traded up $1.19 on Monday, hitting $71.61. The stock had a trading volume of 6,080,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,980,279. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 414.23, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.58. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. Equities research analysts expect that Block will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Block by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company's stock worth $967,942,000 after buying an additional 212,218 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company's stock worth $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company's stock worth $802,736,000 after buying an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 0.8% during 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 buying an additional 71,735 shares during the period. 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.