Block’s (XYZ) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on XYZ. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $79.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Macquarie increased their price target on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Block from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.58.

Block Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $66.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 7.41%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $763,036.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 263,507 shares in the company, valued at $19,288,712.40. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,871,680. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.