Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Morgan Stanley

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $65.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.44% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Block from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Block in a report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $65.29 on Tuesday. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market cap of $40.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.53.

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

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $103,159.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,329.68. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,585,253.28. This represents a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,832 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,288. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SouthState Corp grew its stake in Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Block by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.