Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SQ. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.34.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $94.58 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.13, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $581,923,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 2.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,846,000 after purchasing an additional 45,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Block by 17.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares during the period. 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.