Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target Raised to $88.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $78.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.18% from the stock’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of several other research reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.22.

Block Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $73.84 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.85 and its 200-day moving average is $64.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The company has a market capitalization of $44.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.61.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,189,200. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 15,806 shares of company stock worth $857,468 over the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $1,866,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at about $516,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $385,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,861,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.