Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded by Zacks Research to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Block from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding to a generally bullish analyst backdrop. Overall, Block now has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $85.42.
• Block posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, reporting $0.85 EPS versus the $0.30 consensus estimate on revenue of $6.06 billion. Revenue rose 4.9% year over year, and the company also issued Q2 2026 and FY 2026 EPS guidance.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CFO Amrita Ahuja and insider Owen Britton Jennings, with total insider sales of 199,680 shares over the last three months. Despite that, institutional investors still own 70.44% of the stock.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Truist Financial increased their target price on Block from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Block from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Block from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Block from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.42.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $69.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.31. The stock has a market cap of $41.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.56. Block has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Block will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at $37,561,200. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,316 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total value of $90,198.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 479,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,876,033.48. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 199,680 shares of company stock valued at $15,009,081 in the last three months. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Block by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,938 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Block by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

About Block

Block NYSE: XYZ is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block's portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.

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