Block (NYSE:XYZ) Earns In-Line Rating from Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an in-line rating and a $52.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Block from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.52.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,818,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,780,719. The company has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77. Block has a 52 week low of $46.42 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. Analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $70,967.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 181,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,221,185.76. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,585,253.28. This represents a 2.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 53,878 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,615,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $525,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Block by 187.7% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,210 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 7,313 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Block by 28.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,074 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,227,000 after buying an additional 10,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Block by 109.8% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,472 shares of the technology company's stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 4,434 shares in the last quarter. 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.