Clear Str Upgrades Block (NYSE:XYZ) to “Hold”

Block (NYSE:XYZGet Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Clear Str to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Block from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Block from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Block from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.64.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Block

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $81.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.66 and a 200 day moving average of $66.53. Block has a twelve month low of $48.21 and a twelve month high of $84.08.

Block (NYSE:XYZGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. Block’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,467,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 557,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,612,320. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $2,318,925.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 357,219 shares of company stock valued at $27,286,681 in the last ninety days. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,866,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Block in the second quarter worth approximately $1,861,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Receive News & Ratings for Block Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Block and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.