Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by investment analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 53.52% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $61.88 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $30,356.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 126,806 shares in the company, valued at $9,481,284.62. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 61,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,799,162 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.