Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $100.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on SQ. Macquarie lifted their price target on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

SQ stock opened at $86.61 on Monday. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.74. The firm has a market cap of $53.68 billion, a PE ratio of 48.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $581,923,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Block by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $147,846,000 after acquiring an additional 45,472 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Block by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.