Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Needham & Company LLC Analyst Says

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price raised by Needham & Company LLC from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.37.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $83.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Block has a 1-year low of $50.86 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.92.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,606,992. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other 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.