Block (NYSE:SQ) PT Raised to $98.00 at Robert W. Baird

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $95.00 to $98.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair restated a market perform rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $85.67.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $71.61 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.81 and a 200-day moving average of $66.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 414.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Block has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 477,290 shares in the company, valued at $37,424,308.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.