Block (NYSE:XYZ) Earns “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 45.44% from the company’s current price.

XYZ has been the topic of several other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.42.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ stock opened at $61.88 on Thursday. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 2.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.22, for a total value of $54,165.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 103,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,480,403.16. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,581 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $493,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 285,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,325. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,799,162. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.