Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.62.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on XYZ shares. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Block from $109.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of XYZ opened at $54.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $33.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. Block has a 1 year low of $53.54 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.99.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.