Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target Raised to $85.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective hoisted by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $75.00 to $85.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning. Rothschild & Co Redburn currently has a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on XYZ. Bank of America boosted their price target on Block from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Block from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Block from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.24.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded up $1.95 on Tuesday, hitting $85.99. 2,921,824 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,193,499. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $88.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.39.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.45. Block had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 1.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Block’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $673,618.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 513,981 shares in the company, valued at $42,362,314.02. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.48, for a total transaction of $488,880.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,482,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,808,114.56. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 226,686 shares of company stock valued at $17,861,807 in the last three months. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $621,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,194,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $234,886,000 after purchasing an additional 494,083 shares during the period. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Block by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,682,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $203,897,000 after purchasing an additional 172,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Block by 528.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,309,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $199,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Block by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,147,988 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $189,353,000 after purchasing an additional 39,112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block’s third-quarter results beat expectations: earnings per share were $1.13 versus the $0.68 consensus, while revenue rose 9.9% year over year. Cash App lending and Square growth helped lift gross profit 22% to $3.24 billion, and the company raised its 2026 outlook. Shares recently reached a 52-week high following the results. Article: Block earnings lift outlook Article: Block Q3 earnings beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised price targets, reinforcing optimism: Wells Fargo lifted its target to $110, TD Cowen to $109, Barclays and Argus to $105, and RBC to $103. Needham reiterated its Buy rating, while TD Cowen and Susquehanna also expressed expectations for further gains. Wells Fargo forecast Argus target increase Barclays target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Traders also purchased a large volume of Block call options, suggesting bullish positioning, though options activity can be speculative. Call options activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its target to $82 but maintained an Equal Weight rating; Scotiabank also kept a Sector Perform rating. Their views are more cautious than the broader cluster of Buy and Outperform calls.
• Negative Sentiment: Block is making its second round of job cuts this year, affecting employees in Cash App. The cuts may reduce costs, but the timing shortly after strong earnings could raise questions about staffing and business needs. Article: Block job cuts

About Block

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payments, commerce, and financial services through an ecosystem of business and consumer products. Formerly known as Square, the company was co-founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and changed its corporate name to Block in 2021.

Its Square ecosystem serves businesses with point-of-sale hardware, payment processing, invoicing, payroll, inventory management, customer engagement, online commerce, and other software tools. Block also offers lending and other financial services to eligible business customers through Square-related products.

For consumers, Block operates Cash App, a mobile financial services platform that supports services such as peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, a Cash App Card, direct deposit, investing, and bitcoin transactions, subject to product and geographic availability.