Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Key Points

• Citigroup has initiated coverage on Block (NYSE:XYZ) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $105.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.43% from its current price.
• Several analysts, including Oppenheimer and Bank of America, have recently raised their price targets on Block, reflecting a general positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Block's stock saw a drop of 2.4% during trading, reaching $75.85, despite reporting $0.62 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $105.00 price target on the technology company's stock. Citigroup's price objective indicates a potential upside of 38.43% from the company's current price.

XYZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.30.

Block Trading Down 2.4%

XYZ traded down $1.88 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.85. 4,605,375 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,141,529. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 2.71. The stock's 50-day moving average is $76.34 and its 200 day moving average is $67.79. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. The business 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $264,178.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,871,680. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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