Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have given a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.4242.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on XYZ shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Block from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Block from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total transaction of $783,991.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 423,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,889,486.66. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Eisen sold 41,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $3,519,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,566,672 shares in the company, valued at $134,498,791.20. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 363,913 shares of company stock valued at $29,390,366. Insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Block by 6,740.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,852,088 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,168,759,000 after acquiring an additional 54,050,161 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $621,703,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Block by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,023,441 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,042,966,000 after purchasing an additional 4,727,217 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Block by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,406,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $934,121,000 after purchasing an additional 67,560 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $484,387,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $79.41 on Tuesday. Block has a one year low of $48.21 and a one year high of $86.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.60 and a 200 day moving average of $72.41. The company has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.79, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Block’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

About Block

Block, Inc is a global technology company that develops financial services and commerce tools for businesses and consumers. Founded in 2009 as Square, the company changed its corporate name to Block in 2021 to reflect the expansion of its operations beyond seller-focused payment solutions.

Through its Square ecosystem, Block provides payment processing, point-of-sale hardware and software, business banking, invoicing, payroll, inventory management and other tools for merchants. Its consumer-focused Cash App offers services that may include peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, investing, debit-card access and bitcoin-related functionality, subject to availability and applicable regulations.

Block also owns Afterpay, a buy now, pay later platform, and has operated additional businesses involving music streaming and bitcoin infrastructure.