Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Block (NYSE:XYZ) to “Outperform”

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $87.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 36.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on XYZ. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.76.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $58.69 on Tuesday. Block has a fifty-two week low of $53.54 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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.24.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its 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). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % 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 valued at $1,649,113 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 6.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Block by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Block by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Block by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.