Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Gap Down to $73.00

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $73.00, but opened at $67.91. Block shares last traded at $67.19, with a volume of 3,148,885 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SQ. BTIG Research upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Block Stock Down 8.3 %

The company has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 443.00, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 10.4% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,112,000 after purchasing an additional 115,132 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 261,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Block by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,807,000 after acquiring an additional 190,400 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $359,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.