Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $80.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer began coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.37.

Block Stock Up 11.9 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $83.41 on Friday. Block has a 12 month low of $50.86 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.86 and a 200-day moving average of $66.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,714 shares of company stock worth $1,606,992 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Block by 13.5% in the 3rd 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. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,969,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Block by 11.5% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 115,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,780,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Block by 165.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 453,545 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,446,000 after acquiring an additional 282,550 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.