Block’s (SQ) Outperform Rating Reiterated at William Blair

William Blair reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a report issued on Friday morning,RTT News reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.30.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $84.30 on Friday. Block has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $90.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,678 shares of company stock valued at $1,924,112 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Block by 770.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after buying an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. 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.