Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on XYZ. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.67.

Block Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $72.47 on Tuesday. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $82.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $43.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.51 and a 200-day moving average of $64.69.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its 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. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Block will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at $30,170,970.75. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 268,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,112,675. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393 in the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.