Block (NYSE:XYZ) Receives Overweight Rating from Stephens

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by Stephens in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $95.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 53.65% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research cut Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.97.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $61.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.63 and a 200 day moving average of $70.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,871,680. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $78,508.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,160 shares of company stock valued at $5,899,556. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.