Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $80.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Block in a report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.41.

Block Price Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $61.26 on Tuesday. Block has a 12 month low of $53.54 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $37.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,585,253.28. This trade represents a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.