Raymond James Upgrades Block (NYSE:SQ) to “Outperform”

Block (NYSE:SQ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $115.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price indicates a potential upside of 24.78% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on SQ. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.94.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $92.16 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.11. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,415,854.92. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,599 shares of company stock worth $2,120,494. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Block by 770.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,849 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Block by 1,061.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,413,000 after acquiring an additional 601,020 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.