Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Down 7.3% – What’s Next?

by · The Markets Daily

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Free Report)’s stock price was down 7.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $69.03 and last traded at $69.78. Approximately 3,144,803 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 7,932,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SQ. Oppenheimer started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.56.

Read Our Latest Report on Block

Block Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.95. The company has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 56.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 2.48.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Block by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 115,900 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,780,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 165.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 453,545 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,446,000 after buying an additional 282,550 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

(Get Free Report)

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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