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

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price objective increased by Robert W. Baird from $95.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.22.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $70.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.38. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 414.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. 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. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.