Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.33.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $89.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.37, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $84.01 and its 200-day moving average is $71.39.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total transaction of $759,347.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. The trade was a 1.46 % 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Block by 770.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Block by 13.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in Block by 76.7% in the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,103,000 after purchasing an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.