Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Trims Block (NYSE:SQ) Target Price to $74.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $82.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SQ. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an in-line rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $87.00.

Block Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of SQ stock opened at $64.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.11.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. On average, analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,526 shares of company stock valued at $9,111,866 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.