Block (NYSE:SQ) Upgraded at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $115.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer began coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.75.

Block Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of SQ opened at $91.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.57.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade 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 have sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 36.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Block by 12.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 37,885 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 6.6% in the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,335 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 2,230.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,167 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Block by 8.3% in the second quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,111 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.