Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.41.

XYZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Block Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $59.75 on Friday. Block has a twelve month low of $53.54 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 83,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $1,315,000. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth about $10,779,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Block by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,822 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. 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.