Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Block has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating by Zacks Research, indicating positive analyst sentiment towards the stock's performance.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Block, with estimates now ranging from $70.00 to $90.00, highlighting increasing confidence in the company's future market performance.
• The stock has shown volatility with a 12-month low of $44.27 and a high of $99.26, further underscoring its potential for growth amidst analyst upgrades.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Block from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.64.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $76.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 2.71.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 253,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $97,856.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares in the company, valued at $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 145,492 shares of company stock worth $11,114,664. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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