Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Barclays

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Block from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Block from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Block to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.91.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $77.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.03. The firm has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a PE ratio of 60.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $3,467,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares in the company, valued at $44,612,320. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.66, for a total transaction of $459,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,856,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,332,475.52. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 345,219 shares of company stock valued at $26,343,121 over the last three months. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Block by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Block News

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block was upgraded to Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), a signal that analysts see improving earnings prospects and potential near-term upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several Zacks momentum and value screens also added XYZ to their Strong Buy lists, reinforcing the recent bullish sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary pointed to accelerating GPV growth in Square, suggesting Block’s merchant ecosystem is still expanding. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales by directors Brian Grassadonia and Anthony Mathew Eisen may weigh on sentiment, but the trades were disclosed as part of pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Block’s $45 million settlement over Cash App fraud-protection allegations could pressure the shares by keeping regulatory and reputational concerns in focus. Article Title

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.