Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 25.83% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. New Street Research started coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.33.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $87.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.22. Block has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $99.26. 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 company has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a PE ratio of 49.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 0.4% in the third quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,688 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Block by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Block by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Block by 14.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.