Block (NYSE:SQ) Given “Outperform” Rating at William Blair

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at William Blair in a research note issued on Friday,RTT News reports.

SQ has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.30.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $83.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $90.00. The stock has a market cap of $51.36 billion, a PE ratio of 46.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $90,968.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,885,112. The trade was a 1.52 % 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at $17,125,895.90. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112 in the last ninety days. 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 the company. National Pension Service boosted its position in Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Block by 2.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,969,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Block by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 115,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,780,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is 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.