Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Moderate Buy consensus from 39 analysts (1 sell, 7 hold, 27 buy, 4 strong buy) with an average 1‑year target price of $81.72.
• Block beat quarterly EPS ($0.65 vs. $0.26 estimate) and reported $6.25B in revenue (+3.6% YoY), and several brokers have raised ratings/targets recently (e.g., Needham to $90, BNP Paribas Exane to $83).
• Insiders sold about 15,806 shares (~$857K) over the last quarter while institutional investors own roughly 70.44% of the stock; market cap is about $42.7B with a PE near 33.9.

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.7222.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $71.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.81. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.61.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Block's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,170,970.75. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,806 shares of company stock valued at $857,468. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,887,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,709,824 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $484,387,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $368,213,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

Block NYSE: XYZ is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block's portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.

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