Macquarie Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by Macquarie in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $110.00 target price on the technology company's stock. Macquarie's price target indicates a potential upside of 135.80% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.15.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $46.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,615,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,113,674. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.86. The company has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,976 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $111,031.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 233,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,141,604.82. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $317,846.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 551,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,806,092. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,324 shares of company stock worth $1,297,662. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Block by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. 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.