Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Block's stock rating has been upgraded to Strong-Buy by Wells Fargo & Company, indicating significant positive sentiment among analysts.
• The average target price for Block's shares has been raised to $82.30, reflecting the expectations for its performance going forward.
• Block's recent earnings report showed $0.62 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a slight decline in year-over-year revenue.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Compass Point reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.30.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $75.85 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $76.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 2.71. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.32 billion. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $30,356.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 126,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,481,284.62. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares in the company, valued at $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Index Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $262,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,081,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,796,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.