Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target Raised to $105.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.21.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $98.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $60.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.96. Block has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $99.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.