Block (NYSE:XYZ) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $110.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.83.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $83.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.67, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.52. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.13. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 5.24%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. SouthState Corp lifted its stake in Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at $67,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.