Block (NYSE:SQ) Rating Increased to Outperform at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $115.00 price target on the technology company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on SQ. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.33.

Block Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SQ stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $87.64. 8,058,767 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,267,476. Block has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $54.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $83.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $44,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Block by 85.3% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 741 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.