Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at BNP Paribas

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at BNP Paribas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

XYZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Block from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Macquarie cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $58.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.23.

Block Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of XYZ stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.80. The stock had a trading volume of 11,485,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,470,194. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.30. 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 one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $38.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $70,967.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 181,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,221,185.76. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total transaction of $27,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,305.52. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,126 shares of company stock worth $3,377,568. Corporate insiders own 10.85% 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.