Oppenheimer Upgrades Block (NYSE:SQ) to Outperform

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $115.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SQ. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.33.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.37, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Block by 770.0% during the 3rd 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 lifted its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 76.7% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after buying an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is 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.