Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.14.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on XYZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Block by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,688 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Block by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Block by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Trading Down 17.7 %

Block stock opened at $68.34 on Monday. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

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

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.