Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given New $88.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho has raised its price target for Block (NYSE:XYZ) from $71.00 to $88.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.45% from the current stock price.
• Institutional investors have recently increased their holdings in Block, with 70.44% of the stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Block reported earnings of $0.62 per share for the last quarter, significantly beating consensus estimates, despite experiencing a 1.6% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by Mizuho from $71.00 to $88.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Mizuho's price target indicates a potential upside of 14.67% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Compass Point restated a "sell" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.82.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ stock traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $76.74. 6,444,833 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,089,564. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $47.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50-day moving average is $70.69 and its 200 day moving average is $64.99.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. The business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 6,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $366,196.66. Following the transaction, the insider owned 591,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,361,959.31. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 11,556 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.42, for a total transaction of $651,989.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 284,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,064,974.38. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,438 shares of company stock worth $6,217,707. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.