Benchmark Upgrades Block (NYSE:XYZ) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Benchmark upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating. The company has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average analyst price target of $95.42.
• Block’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.48 consensus and revenue of $6.62 billion, up 9.3% year over year.
• Shares opened at $79.03, while insiders sold a combined 378,006 shares worth approximately $30.4 million over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 70.44% of the stock.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Block from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Block from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.42.

Block Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $79.03 on Thursday. Block has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $86.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $47.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%.The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 41,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $3,519,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,566,672 shares in the company, valued at $134,498,791.20. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $3,467,840.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,612,320. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 378,006 shares of company stock valued at $30,430,901 over the last 90 days. 11.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,866,000. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $516,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $385,000. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $1,861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

About Block

Block, Inc is a global technology company that develops financial services and commerce tools for businesses and consumers. Founded in 2009 as Square, the company changed its corporate name to Block in 2021 to reflect the expansion of its operations beyond seller-focused payment solutions.

Through its Square ecosystem, Block provides payment processing, point-of-sale hardware and software, business banking, invoicing, payroll, inventory management and other tools for merchants. Its consumer-focused Cash App offers services that may include peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, investing, debit-card access and bitcoin-related functionality, subject to availability and applicable regulations.

Block also owns Afterpay, a buy now, pay later platform, and has operated additional businesses involving music streaming and bitcoin infrastructure.

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