Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock

Block (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the technology company's stock.

SQ has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer raised Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.68.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $86.38. The company had a trading volume of 6,122,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,234. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick 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. The company has a market capitalization of $53.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,415,854.92. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $443,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 5.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,067 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,649 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Block by 17.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,143,000 after buying an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,833 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Block by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 57,947 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

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.