Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $83.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on XYZ. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Compass Point raised Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.94.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $69.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.49. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $94.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $500,946.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 521,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Arnaud Weber sold 7,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $435,633.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 259,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,910,950.40. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943 over the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Block by 3.2% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Block by 0.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.