Needham & Company LLC Increases Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $105.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 51.14% from the stock’s current price.

SQ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a 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 target price of $87.42.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SQ opened at $69.47 on Friday. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.22, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.63 and a 200 day moving average of $68.16.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. On average, research analysts expect that Block will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 843.2% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Block by 67,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Block by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.