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

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a "hold" to a "Strong-Buy""Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $81.72.
• Block beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.65 EPS versus a $0.26 estimate and $6.25 billion in revenue; the stock has a $39.64 billion market cap, a PE of 31.5, and a one‑year range of $44.27–$82.50.
• Insiders sold 15,806 shares (~$857,468) over the past three months (insiders own 10.49%), while institutional investors hold about 70.44% of the company's stock.

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

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.72.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $66.16 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.61. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total value of $106,582.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 500,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,170,970.75. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,806 shares of company stock valued at $857,468. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 536,268 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,906,000 after buying an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,945 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,884,000 after buying an additional 3,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

About Block

Block NYSE: XYZ is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block's portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.

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