Block (NYSE:SQ) PT Lowered to $95.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $110.00 to $95.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SQ. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. TD Cowen started coverage on Block in a research report on Friday, October 6th. They set an outperform rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Block from $83.00 to $77.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $77.75.

Block Price Performance

NYSE SQ opened at $48.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -103.57 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.66. Block has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $89.97.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Block will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 629 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.49, for a total value of $35,532.21. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 72,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,122,696.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,584 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $192,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 293,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,319,860. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 629 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.49, for a total value of $35,532.21. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 72,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,122,696.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,222 shares of company stock worth $1,006,326. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Decatur Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 11.1% in the first quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $387,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 6,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.17% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

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.