Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Key Points

• Piper Sandler raised Block's price target from $50.00 to $58.00, maintaining an "underweight" rating, indicating a potential downside of 24.49% from its current price.
• Barclays upgraded Block's price target significantly from $57.00 to $75.00 with an "overweight" rating, while consensus ratings show a majority of analysts rated the stock as a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $76.06.
• Block reported earnings of $0.62 per share, surpassing estimates, despite a 1.6% year-over-year revenue decline, echoing mixed sentiments among investors and analysts.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $50.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Piper Sandler's price objective points to a potential downside of 24.49% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on XYZ. Barclays raised their price objective on Block from $57.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.06.

Block Stock Up 0.9%

Block stock opened at $76.81 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $68.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.71. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 6,494 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $366,196.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 591,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,361,959.31. This represents a 1.09% 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 Dhananjay Prasanna sold 11,318 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.41, for a total transaction of $695,038.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 318,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,574,498.91. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,538 shares of company stock worth $6,597,411 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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