Block (NYSE:SQ) Given New $112.00 Price Target at Barclays

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on SQ. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. New Street Research started coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.34.

Block Trading Up 0.9 %

SQ opened at $94.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $581,923,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Block by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,846,000 after purchasing an additional 45,472 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Block by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.