Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given New $95.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target for Block (NYSE:XYZ) from $80.00 to $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.68% from its current price.
• The average rating for Block's stock is currently a "Moderate Buy", with 24 analysts rating it as a buy, while two analysts have given it a sell rating.
• Block reported earnings of $0.62 EPS, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.21, despite a 1.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.46% from the company's current price.

XYZ has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $58.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KGI Securities raised shares of Block to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Block from $57.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.33.

Block Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of XYZ stock traded down $3.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $73.38. 22,768,293 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,619,702. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $69.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.52. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $45.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.32 billion. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.26, for a total transaction of $28,119.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 130,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,060,662.46. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.93, for a total transaction of $269,748.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 299,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,415,384.43. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,538 shares of company stock worth $6,597,411. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 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.