Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded at Raymond James Financial

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by research analysts at Raymond James Financial to a “moderate buy” rating in a report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.97.

Block Stock Up 17.0%

XYZ opened at $63.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.67. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 5.40%.Block’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,797 shares of company stock worth $940,298 over the last ninety days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Block

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management announced cuts of roughly 4,000 roles (nearly half the workforce) and said it will accelerate integrating AI to boost efficiency — a move investors interpreted as materially lowering future operating costs and improving margins. Reuters: Block shares soar as Dorsey leans on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Block reported Q4 results with EPS roughly in line with consensus and revenue up year-over-year (~$6.25B), and management raised 2026 outlook — the combination supported the rally. Zacks: Block Stock Soars
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised ratings/price targets (TD Cowen, Morgan Stanley, Needham, Oppenheimer, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald), signaling analyst confidence that the restructuring and AI investments boost long-term value. Benzinga roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro headwinds and market volatility are present (weak futures / sector rotation), which could cap broader market upside even as Block-specific news drives the stock. Zacks: Oil Surges / Market Moves
• Negative Sentiment: The restructuring will incur substantial one-time costs (reported $450–$500M in severance and charges), which will weigh on near-term cash flow and reported results. WSJ: Layoff costs
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators caution the boost from cuts and AI may not be durable; Seeking Alpha flagged a downgrade risk, and regulators/law firms (Halper Sadeh) are probing potential fiduciary issues — both represent execution and governance risks. Seeking Alpha: Downgrade concerns PR Newswire: Investor probe

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.