Block (NYSE:SQ) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $83.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.30.

Block Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE SQ opened at $85.82 on Monday. Block has a one year low of $53.82 and a one year high of $90.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.09.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 53.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,947 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Block by 18.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,903 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 6.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 21,928 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.