Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $80.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.41.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $59.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. Block has a 52-week low of $53.54 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 82,499 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Block by 770.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Block by 358.4% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,793,000 after purchasing an additional 393,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth $32,445,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.