Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on XYZ. Compass Point reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Block from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Block from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Block from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.45.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $73.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.57. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 12.32%. Block’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 11,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.42, for a total value of $651,989.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 284,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,064,974.38. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 6,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total value of $366,196.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 591,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,361,959.31. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,038 shares of company stock valued at $6,184,911. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,730,489,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $210,016,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $204,223,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $111,109,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.