Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded 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.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on XYZ. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Block from $109.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.41.

Block Trading Down 0.2 %

XYZ stock opened at $61.26 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. Block has a twelve month low of $53.54 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $221,236.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 548,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,310,081.97. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,281,531.52. The trade was a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Block by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Block by 48.2% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Block by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Block by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.