Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $80.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 36.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group reduced 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, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.76.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $58.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 1 year low of $53.54 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $36.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted 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 net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. On average, analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,585,253.28. This represents a 2.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $221,236.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 548,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,310,081.97. This trade represents a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Block Company Profile

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.