Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.0909.

A number of analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $639,603.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $60.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $93.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.27.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Block Company Profile

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.