Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price lifted by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $78.00 to $88.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.18% from the company’s previous close.

XYZ has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. HSBC raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.22.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $73.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.61. Block has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at $30,170,970.75. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,806 shares of company stock worth $857,468. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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