Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Craig Hallum in a report issued on Thursday. They currently have a $23.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $18.00. Craig Hallum’s price target suggests a potential downside of 8.77% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SQ. Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Square in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank AG increased their price objective on shares of Square to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Square from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Square from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Square in a report on Sunday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.61.
Shares of Square (NYSE:SQ) traded down 0.04% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $25.21. 8,209,666 shares of the stock traded hands. The stock’s market cap is $9.49 billion. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.56. Square has a 12-month low of $10.85 and a 12-month high of $27.97. Square also was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 15,478 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 273% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,147 call options.
Square (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The technology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. Square had a negative net margin of 4.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.41%. The business had revenue of $240 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $228.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Square will post $0.17 earnings per share for the current year.
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In other Square news, CFO Sarah Friar sold 19,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.25, for a total transaction of $504,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 368,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,680,763.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James Morgan Jr. Mckelvey sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.36, for a total transaction of $2,102,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 186,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,352,154.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 914,900 shares of company stock valued at $20,202,610. Insiders own 32.68% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Square by 22.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Glassman Wealth Services raised its stake in Square by 1,987.3% in the first quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 6,575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 6,260 shares in the last quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in Square during the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Concert Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Square during the first quarter worth approximately $144,000. Finally, FNY Partners Fund LP raised its stake in Square by 55.4% in the first quarter. FNY Partners Fund LP now owns 10,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. 75.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Square Company Profile
Square, Inc (Square) is a commerce ecosystem. The Company enables its sellers start, run and grow their businesses. It combines software with hardware to enable sellers to turn mobile devices and computing devices into payments and point-of-sale solutions. Once a seller downloads the Square Point of Sale mobile application, they can take their first payment.
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