Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for Block (SQ)

Block (NYSE: SQ) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 12/10/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Macquarie from $100.00 to $110.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/9/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $80.00 to $105.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 12/2/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $90.00 to $120.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/2/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $87.00 to $102.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/25/2024 – Block was downgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They now have a $100.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $94.00.
• 11/20/2024 – Block was downgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $88.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/15/2024 – Block had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at William Blair.
• 11/12/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. from $95.00 to $120.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/11/2024 – Block had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Sandler. They now have a $83.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/8/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $80.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 11/8/2024 – Block had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $80.00 to $90.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 10/21/2024 – Block had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $88.00 price target on the stock.

Block Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of SQ opened at $97.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Block by 13.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Block by 2.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.