Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $80.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. William Blair upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.56.

Block Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded down $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,843,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,031,937. Block has a fifty-two week low of $50.86 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 41.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 2.48.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Block by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,688 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Block by 1.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 2.5% in the third quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Block by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. raised its position in shares of Block by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 1,351 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.