Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.09.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $62.14 on Tuesday. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $94.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 521,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $611,482.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,760,051. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,887,366,000 after buying an additional 12,709,824 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 12.2% in the third quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $838,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Block by 192.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $634,721,000. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $627,233,000. 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.