Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.72.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $67.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.79. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,806 shares of company stock valued at $857,468 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 179,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,956,000 after purchasing an additional 34,678 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,383,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,400,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Block by 2,385.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 612,358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,255,000 after buying an additional 587,719 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,323,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Company Profile

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.