William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for Block (NYSE:SQ)

William Blair reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research report report published on Friday,RTT News reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.30.

Block Stock Up 7.8 %

Shares of SQ opened at $90.84 on Friday. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $91.83. The stock has a market cap of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $90,968.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 53.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,947 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,482 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,552 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $429,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Block by 16.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 775,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,512,000 after purchasing an additional 106,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Block during the first quarter worth $362,000. Institutional investors 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.