Canaccord Genuity Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective increased by Canaccord Genuity Group from $95.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.30.

Block Trading Up 1.1 %

SQ stock opened at $84.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a PE ratio of 47.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $90.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.39.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,678 shares of company stock valued at $1,924,112 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $581,923,000 after buying an additional 133,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.