Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given New $103.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $95.00 to $103.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.14% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Block from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, September 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.39.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ traded up $11.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $87.18. 7,394,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,126,348. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $88.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.18. The company has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.58.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.44, for a total transaction of $446,640.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,212,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,271,303.68. This represents a 0.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,686 shares of company stock valued at $18,360,227. Insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 301.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Block News

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block reported third-quarter earnings of $1.13 per share, up from $0.54 a year earlier, and revenue of $6.72 billion, up 9.9%. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook, citing Cash App strength; Square’s U.S. payment-volume growth accelerated. Reuters: Block raises full-year profit outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised targets: Susquehanna to $110 and Bank of America to $117, with positive and buy ratings, respectively. Needham reaffirmed its buy rating and $100 target. These moves suggest analysts see further upside. Susquehanna recommendations Bank of America recommendations
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP reaffirmed its “market perform” rating, signaling a more cautious view than the recent target increases. Citizens JMP recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Block expects to pay about $764 million to settle a Justice Department money-laundering-controls probe. The company has reserved funds, but uncertainty about whether the reserve will cover the settlement—and scrutiny of compliance controls—could weigh on investor sentiment. Report on DOJ probe and expected settlement

About Block

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payments, commerce, and financial services through an ecosystem of business and consumer products. Formerly known as Square, the company was co-founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and changed its corporate name to Block in 2021.

Its Square ecosystem serves businesses with point-of-sale hardware, payment processing, invoicing, payroll, inventory management, customer engagement, online commerce, and other software tools. Block also offers lending and other financial services to eligible business customers through Square-related products.

For consumers, Block operates Cash App, a mobile financial services platform that supports services such as peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, a Cash App Card, direct deposit, investing, and bitcoin transactions, subject to product and geographic availability.