Block’s (SQ) Outperform Rating Reiterated at William Blair

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by stock analysts at William Blair in a note issued to investors on Friday,RTT News reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.30.

Block Stock Down 2.8 %

SQ stock opened at $83.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $90.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.36 billion, a PE ratio of 46.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.11 and a 200 day moving average of $67.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 1.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock valued at $1,924,112 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Block by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after purchasing an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.