Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price Target Raised at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Block from $97 to $110 and maintained an Overweight rating, implying about 31% upside from the prior close. Analysts overall have a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $98.25.
• Block beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.13 versus $0.68 expected and revenue of $6.72 billion, up 9.9% year over year. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook, though shares fell 4.2% on Thursday.
• Block set aside approximately $764 million for a preliminary Justice Department settlement related to money-laundering controls, leaving potential costs and compliance obligations as a key risk.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 30.97% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on XYZ. Bank of America upped their target price on Block from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Zacks Research cut Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Block from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Clear Str upgraded shares of Block to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.25.

Block Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of Block stock traded down $3.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,151,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,182,521. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.30. The company has a market cap of $50.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.58. Block has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $88.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 1.80%. Block's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $673,618.66. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 513,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,362,314.02. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.48, for a total value of $488,880.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,482,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $120,808,114.56. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 226,686 shares of company stock worth $17,861,807 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $621,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Block by 18.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,194,419 shares of the technology company's stock worth $234,886,000 after buying an additional 494,083 shares during the period. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,682,854 shares of the technology company's stock worth $203,897,000 after acquiring an additional 172,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Block by 528.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,309,296 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Block by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,147,988 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $189,353,000 after purchasing an additional 39,112 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Block

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block’s third-quarter results beat expectations: adjusted EPS was $1.13, revenue reached $6.72 billion, and gross profit rose 22% to $3.24 billion. Growth in Cash App and Square helped drive the results, and Block raised its full-year profit outlook. Reuters earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms lifted their price targets after the results. Argus raised its target to $105 and assigned a Buy rating; other increases included targets of $109 from TD Cowen and $117 from Bank of America, signaling confidence in further upside. Argus rating information
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions are not unanimous: Scotiabank maintained Sector Perform, Morgan Stanley Equal Weight, and Citizens JMP initiated coverage at Hold. These more cautious ratings suggest some investors may wait for evidence that earnings and margins can remain strong.
• Negative Sentiment: Block set aside about $764 million toward a preliminary Justice Department settlement tied to money-laundering controls. The cost and ongoing compliance requirements could pressure cash flow and keep regulatory risk in focus. Reuters settlement report

About Block

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payments, commerce, and financial services through an ecosystem of business and consumer products. Formerly known as Square, the company was co-founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and changed its corporate name to Block in 2021.

Its Square ecosystem serves businesses with point-of-sale hardware, payment processing, invoicing, payroll, inventory management, customer engagement, online commerce, and other software tools. Block also offers lending and other financial services to eligible business customers through Square-related products.

For consumers, Block operates Cash App, a mobile financial services platform that supports services such as peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, a Cash App Card, direct deposit, investing, and bitcoin transactions, subject to product and geographic availability.

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