Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Truist Financial

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $77.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $72.00. Truist Financial’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $58.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 2.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.13 and a 200-day moving average of $66.82.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Block by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.