Block (NYSE:XYZ) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $72.82, but opened at $78.61. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Block shares last traded at $78.77, with a volume of 12,170,312 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on XYZ. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Block from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus set a $59.00 price objective on Block in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Block from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.26, for a total value of $92,946.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 590,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,883,277.62. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $56,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 303,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,248,570. The trade was a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,287 shares of company stock valued at $4,624,074. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.88. The firm has a market cap of $48.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 2.74.

About Block

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.