Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $65.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.41% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on XYZ. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.31.

Block Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $65.93 on Tuesday. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.53. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Block by 64.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Block by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.