Block (NYSE:SQ) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Block Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.13. The company has a market cap of $53.90 billion, a PE ratio of 48.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.51. Block has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $162,836.83. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 86,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,863,894.30. This trade represents a 2.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,017 shares of company stock worth $2,364,065 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by 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.