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

Key Points

• Block, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 36 research firms, with 24 analysts issuing buy ratings and 3 analysts giving a sell rating.
• The average 12-month target price for Block's stock is $80.64, reflecting some optimism among analysts about the company's future performance.
• Insider trading activity showed significant sales, with insiders selling 109,338 shares valued at over $8 million in recent months, representing a decrease in their ownership stakes.

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.6364.

A number of research firms have weighed in on XYZ. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Block from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Block from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Macquarie upped their target price on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 8,501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.87, for a total value of $627,968.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 255,006 shares in the company, valued at $18,837,293.22. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 9,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $744,102.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 574,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,766,486.88. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,338 shares of company stock valued at $8,172,456 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $75.26 on Tuesday. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 2.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.32 billion. Block's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

About Block

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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