Block (NYSE:XYZ) Sees Strong Trading Volume - What's Next?

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 7,056,641 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session's volume of 7,373,229 shares.The stock last traded at $63.91 and had previously closed at $62.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.31.

Block Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) 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 business 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,585,253.28. This trade represents a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,832 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,288 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,315,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,779,000. 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.