Citigroup Increases Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $90.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Citigroup from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.70% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.55.

Block Stock Down 2.6 %

SQ stock opened at $71.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 92.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. Block has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. Equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Block by 3,525.7% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth about $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth about $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 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.