Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, July 27th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Block from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.84.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $81.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.45, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.54. Block has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $84.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $75.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Block will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 8,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $606,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 463,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,743,450. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,467,840.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,612,320. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 347,300 shares of company stock worth $26,657,536. Insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 301.0% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Block by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.