Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $80.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $87.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 30.17% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $109.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.41.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $61.46 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average price of $72.68. The stock has a market cap of $38.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G 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.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 83,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 770.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 358.4% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,793,000 after acquiring an additional 393,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,445,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.