Morgan Stanley Boosts Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $65.00

Block (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the technology company's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.69.

Block Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of SQ traded down $7.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.30. 10,835,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,267,612. Block has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.99. The firm has a market cap of $54.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Block by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $110,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in Block by 13.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Block by 6.2% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in 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.