Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on XYZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, March 27th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.72.

Block Trading Up 3.0%

Block stock opened at $66.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.61. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.79. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 15,806 shares of company stock worth $857,468 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 24.0% during the third 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 bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,383,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth $5,400,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,323,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.