Block (NYSE:XYZ) Raised to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Monday. The brokerage presently has a $89.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $100.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 30.23% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Block from $109.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.76.

Block Stock Down 17.7 %

NYSE:XYZ opened at $68.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during 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%. Analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. The trade was a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Block by 770.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP boosted its position in Block by 358.4% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,793,000 after purchasing an additional 393,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.