Block (SQ) – Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Block (NYSE: SQ) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 9/19/2023 – Block had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $70.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/18/2023 – Block was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 9/11/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $92.00 to $72.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 9/11/2023 – Block is now covered by analysts at Berenberg Bank. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/6/2023 – Block was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating.
• 9/6/2023 – Block was downgraded by analysts at UBS Group AG from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $65.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $102.00.
• 8/29/2023 – Block had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock.
• 8/22/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $96.00 to $75.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 8/18/2023 – Block had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $70.00 price target on the stock.
• 8/17/2023 – Block is now covered by analysts at StockNews.com. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 8/7/2023 – Block had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock.
• 8/7/2023 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $85.00 to $90.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at Stephens from $90.00 to $80.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $88.00 to $87.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG. They now have a $100.00 price target on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $69.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $90.00 to $85.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 8/4/2023 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $80.00 to $82.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 7/28/2023 – Block was upgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $95.00 price target on the stock.
• 7/27/2023 – Block was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 7/24/2023 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $80.00 to $90.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Block Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Block stock traded down $1.20 on Tuesday, hitting $50.05. 11,838,689 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,221,045. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.72. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $49.37 and a one year high of $89.97. The company has a market capitalization of $30.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -113.75 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.61%. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total transaction of $242,418.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,472,485.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total transaction of $242,418.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,485.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.84, for a total transaction of $363,008.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 310,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,758,498.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,200 shares of company stock worth $2,310,864 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Decatur Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC bought a new position in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $387,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $228,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,320 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $516,000. Institutional investors own 61.17% of the company’s stock.

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.