Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Buy at Truist Financial

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $77.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 28.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Block Stock Down 0.1%

XYZ opened at $59.80 on Wednesday. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.94.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth about $1,531,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at about $5,334,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $542,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,701,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.