Stephens Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Block (NYSE:XYZ)

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $75.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark downgraded Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $97.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.22.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $46.57 on Friday. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $28.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.86.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $103,159.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 82,499 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,329.68. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,585,253.28. The trade was a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Graypoint LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,445,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 391.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 292,571 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,866,000 after purchasing an additional 232,989 shares during the last quarter. Private Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $15,727,000. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $10,779,000. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $9,769,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Company Profile

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.