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

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Macquarie in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Macquarie’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 136.20% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $94.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.22.

Block Stock Down 20.4 %

XYZ stock opened at $46.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.86. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

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

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total value of $27,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,467,305.52. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock worth $1,297,662 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% in 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 position in Block by 48.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Block by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 92.3% during the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth $203,000. 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.