Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $65.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 0.44% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on XYZ. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Block Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $65.29 on Tuesday. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $221,236.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 548,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,310,081.97. This trade represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,832 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,288. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Block by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,154 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 5,929 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $3,775,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in Block by 18,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 7,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 7,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $9,769,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Company Profile

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.