Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) was downgraded by research analysts at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $70.00 target price on the technology company's stock, down from their prior target price of $120.00. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's target price points to a potential upside of 25.16% from the stock's current price.
Several other brokerages also recently commented on SQ. Macquarie downgraded shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Block from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 8th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Block from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Block from $152.00 to $134.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Block from $110.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $135.76.
Get Block alerts:Block Trading Down 5.9 %
SQ stock opened at $55.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.44 billion, a PE ratio of -61.46 and a beta of 2.45. Block has a one year low of $55.02 and a one year high of $270.16. The company's 50 day moving average price is $73.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80.
Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The technology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 3.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.52%. The business's revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Block will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Block news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,770 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total value of $1,914,509.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 428,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,633,768.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $252,336.27. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 155,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,748,296.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,770 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $1,914,509.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 428,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,633,768.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 330,041 shares of company stock valued at $23,850,966. 11.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Block by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co. now owns 6,097 shares of the technology company's stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Block by 10,035.2% during the fourth quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 47,838 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,726,000 after purchasing an additional 47,366 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Block by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 24,660 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Trust Co. LBA bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $416,000. 62.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Block
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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.
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