Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $86.75, but opened at $90.65. Block shares last traded at $89.80, with a volume of 1,152,017 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.94.

Block Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.91. The company has a market capitalization of $56.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,494. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Block by 392.7% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is 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.