Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.62.

XYZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Block by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Block by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE XYZ opened at $54.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 1 year low of $53.54 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $33.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.99.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.