Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Block (NYSE:XYZ) to “Strong-Buy”

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on XYZ. Compass Point raised shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.09.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $64.23 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.34. Block has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $94.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.66.

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

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 242,718 shares in the company, valued at $15,529,097.64. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,383,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,055,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $415,575,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,628,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $13,937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.