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

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.23.

XYZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Block from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total value of $27,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,467,305.52. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 11,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.41, for a total value of $695,038.38. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 318,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,574,498.91. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,126 shares of company stock worth $3,377,568. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Block stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,040 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ opened at $61.80 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.30. The firm has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

About Block

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.