Block (NYSE:XYZ) Coverage Initiated at Evercore ISI

Equities researchers at Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “in-line” rating and a $52.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.12% from the company’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Block from $94.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.31.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $49.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.22. Block has a 1-year low of $46.42 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $30.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $317,846.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 551,850 shares in the company, valued at $38,806,092. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,585,253.28. This trade represents a 2.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Block by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Block by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.