Block’s (XYZ) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 49.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on XYZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.79.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $60.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,225,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,882,909. The firm has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.08. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Block by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 536,268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,906,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Block by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 3,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Block

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.