Analysts Set Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Price Target at $90.56

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.37.

SQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. New Street Research started coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Friday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday.

Block Stock Up 11.9 %

SQ stock opened at $83.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.86 and its 200-day moving average is $66.92. Block has a twelve month low of $50.86 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,714 shares of company stock worth $1,606,992. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Block by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after acquiring an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 326,444 shares in the last quarter. 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.