Block (NYSE:XYZ) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Bank of America

Research analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 33.66% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on XYZ. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.79.

Block Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of XYZ traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,509,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,986,662. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.92. The stock has a market cap of $40.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.65. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,797 shares of company stock valued at $940,298. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co acquired a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Block by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,299,033 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $344,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Block by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,454 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.