Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Overweight” Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $93.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $72.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on XYZ. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Block from $87.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.97.

Block Trading Up 17.0%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded up $9.24 on Friday, hitting $63.77. The company had a trading volume of 40,637,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,332,151. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.67.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 242,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,529,097.64. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 16,797 shares of company stock worth $940,298 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Block

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management announced cuts of roughly 4,000 roles (nearly half the workforce) and said it will accelerate integrating AI to boost efficiency — a move investors interpreted as materially lowering future operating costs and improving margins. Reuters: Block shares soar as Dorsey leans on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Block reported Q4 results with EPS roughly in line with consensus and revenue up year-over-year (~$6.25B), and management raised 2026 outlook — the combination supported the rally. Zacks: Block Stock Soars
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised ratings/price targets (TD Cowen, Morgan Stanley, Needham, Oppenheimer, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald), signaling analyst confidence that the restructuring and AI investments boost long-term value. Benzinga roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro headwinds and market volatility are present (weak futures / sector rotation), which could cap broader market upside even as Block-specific news drives the stock. Zacks: Oil Surges / Market Moves
• Negative Sentiment: The restructuring will incur substantial one-time costs (reported $450–$500M in severance and charges), which will weigh on near-term cash flow and reported results. WSJ: Layoff costs
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators caution the boost from cuts and AI may not be durable; Seeking Alpha flagged a downgrade risk, and regulators/law firms (Halper Sadeh) are probing potential fiduciary issues — both represent execution and governance risks. Seeking Alpha: Downgrade concerns PR Newswire: Investor probe

About Block

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.