Block (NYSE:SQ) PT Raised to $90.00 at Citigroup

Block (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

SQ has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI restated an in-line rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $87.55.

Block Trading Up 5.9 %

NYSE:SQ traded up $4.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $73.56. 11,654,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,202,964. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.69 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585. Insiders own 10.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

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