Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $80.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.42.

Block Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of XYZ opened at $63.64 on Monday. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $639,603.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $611,482.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,958 shares of company stock valued at $7,712,257. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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