Block (NYSE:SQ) Earns Outperform Rating from William Blair

William Blair restated their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a report published on Friday morning,RTT News reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.30.

Block Stock Performance

SQ traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.30. The stock had a trading volume of 6,915,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,144,916. Block has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.36, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at $37,572,170.22. The trade was a 1.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp increased its position in shares of Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Block by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.