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

Key Points

• Block, Inc. has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from 38 brokerages, with three analysts giving a sell rating and four a strong buy rating.
• The company reported earnings of $0.62 EPS, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.21, though its quarterly revenue of $6.05 billion fell short of expectations.
• Insider selling activity is notable, with one insider selling over 35,000 shares at $80.00 per share, indicating potential concerns about the stock's performance.

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned 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 $82.4242.

XYZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Block from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $79.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.25. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $311,000. Private Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $380,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $565,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,062,000. Finally, Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $508,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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