Block (NYSE:SQ) Raised to Buy at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Block (NYSE:SQ) was upgraded by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $115.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.71% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note 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, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.75.

Block Trading Up 0.4 %

SQ traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.49. 690,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,240,287. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.33. 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 has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $99.26.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Block by 64.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 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.