Macquarie Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Macquarie in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Macquarie’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 83.33% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $60.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,329.68. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,585,253.28. This trade represents a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Block by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $581,923,000 after purchasing an additional 133,002 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Block by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,846,000 after purchasing an additional 45,472 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,121,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.