Monness Crespi & Hardt Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Block (NYSE:SQ)

Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SQ. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reissued an in-line rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $87.42.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

Block stock opened at $69.47 on Thursday. Block has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Block will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Block in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 67,500.0% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Block by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.