Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on XYZ. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Arete Research raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.72.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $62.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total value of $106,582.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at $30,170,970.75. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 15,806 shares of company stock worth $857,468 over the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Block

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.