Block’s (XYZ) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Macquarie

Macquarie reissued their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $110.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Block Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $60.00 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $37.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $221,236.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 548,597 shares in the company, valued at $37,310,081.97. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113 over the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Block by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,315,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,779,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Block by 6.2% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,037,000 after acquiring an additional 14,822 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.