Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Block (NYSE:SQ)

Canaccord Genuity Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $95.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $88.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research upgraded Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna restated a positive rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $87.55.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock traded up $4.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.53. 11,642,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,202,957. The stock has a market cap of $45.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.08, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.33. Block has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Block by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,942,000 after buying an additional 212,218 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Block by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Block by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% 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.