Truist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Truist Financial from $77.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.65% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.78.

Block Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:XYZ traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,041,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,793,335. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.93 and a 200 day moving average of $64.73. The company has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.61. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 268,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,112,675. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,725 shares of company stock valued at $3,401,393. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Block by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Block by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.