Block (NYSE:SQ) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $102.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Block traded as high as $95.95 and last traded at $94.23, with a volume of 4962168 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.55.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SQ. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.21.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,781 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $162,836.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 86,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,863,894.30. This represents a 2.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Block by 194.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,642 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,851,000 after purchasing an additional 69,146 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Block by 100.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 32,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 16,492 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Block by 6.4% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 88,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Block by 272.5% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,680 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Block by 8.8% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.53 and a 200 day moving average of $68.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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.