Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $90.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.52% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.45.

Block Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SQ opened at $88.55 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $94.12. 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 Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 563,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,415,854.92. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Block by 13.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,163 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is 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.