Brokerages Set Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Target Price at $82.94

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.9394.

XYZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $69.58 on Thursday. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $94.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total value of $135,875.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 518,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,516,040.12. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 242,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,529,097.64. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 over the last three months. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.