Block (NYSE:XYZ) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) shares crossed above their 50-day moving average of $73.45, trading as high as $82.25 during recent sessions.
• Multiple analysts have set target prices for Block, with a range from $71.00 to $85.00, leading to an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 25 analysts recommending a buy.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' estimates, but its revenue decreased by 1.6% year-over-year to $6.05 billion.

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.45 and traded as high as $82.25. Block shares last traded at $79.66, with a volume of 6,203,810 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Block from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Macquarie increased their price target on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $82.00 price target on Block and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.32.

Block Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $46.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 2.68. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $73.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.47. 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 (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for 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 company's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 16,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.60, for a total transaction of $1,285,738.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 308,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,240,004.20. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 10,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $763,036.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 263,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,288,712.40. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,182 shares of company stock valued at $7,605,679 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $602,000. Private Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $380,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $565,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $311,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently 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.