Robert W. Baird Increases Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $98.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $95.00 to $98.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 36.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.22.

Block Trading Down 2.0 %

SQ opened at $72.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 432.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.85. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Decatur Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Block by 11.1% in the first quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $387,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Block by 31.3% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,320 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth $516,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.