Morgan Stanley Raises Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $65.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SQ. BNP Paribas cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

Block Stock Up 4.0 %

SQ traded up $3.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.82. The stock had a trading volume of 930,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,237,946. Block has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $56.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

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