Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, KeyCorp Analyst Says

Key Points

• KeyCorp raised Block's price target significantly from $60.00 to $100.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.83% from its current price.
• Block's stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and has 24 analysts giving it a "buy" rating, while two recommend selling.
• Insider trading activity showed that CFO Amrita Ahuja sold over 16,000 shares, a 5.04% decrease in her ownership, raising questions about internal confidence in the stock's performance.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by KeyCorp from $60.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. KeyCorp's target price would indicate a potential upside of 36.28% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Block from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.33.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ stock traded down $3.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.38. 22,768,293 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,619,702. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 2.71. Block has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.32 billion. Block's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 11,318 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.41, for a total transaction of $695,038.38. Following the transaction, the insider owned 318,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,574,498.91. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 6,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $366,196.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 591,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,361,959.31. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,538 shares of company stock valued at $6,597,411 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

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.