Canaccord Genuity Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price hoisted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $95.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 39.83% from the company’s previous close.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.30.

Block Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $85.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.48. Block has a one year low of $53.82 and a one year high of $90.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 53.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,947 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 21,928 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Block by 19.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 301,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,531,000 after buying an additional 48,646 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Block by 3.0% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 222,495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,819,000 after buying an additional 6,556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.