Block (NYSE:XYZ) Earns Market Perform Rating from BMO Capital Markets

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $58.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target suggests a potential upside of 24.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut their price target on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.22.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $46.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. 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 fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.86.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total value of $70,967.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 181,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,221,185.76. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total value of $111,031.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 233,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,141,604.82. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Block by 67.7% during 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Block by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Block by 92.3% in the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.