Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.1429.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on XYZ. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th.

Block Stock Up 3.0%

XYZ opened at $61.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.65. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.44. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50.

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

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 24.0% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 179,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,956,000 after purchasing an additional 34,678 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $5,383,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $5,400,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 2,385.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 612,358 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,255,000 after buying an additional 587,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Block during the third quarter worth about $2,323,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.