Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The firm currently has a $89.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $100.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 30.23% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on XYZ. StockNews.com started coverage on Block in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.76.

Block Stock Down 17.7 %

NYSE:XYZ opened at $68.34 on Monday. Block has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

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

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,325. The trade was a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 three months, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Block by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Block by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth about $1,315,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth about $10,779,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.