Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank Of Canada

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 37.79% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Compass Point restated a “sell” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.97.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ traded up $3.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,703,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,995,069. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $97,856.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 102,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,184,640. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 76,160 shares of company stock valued at $5,899,556. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $2,055,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at $1,628,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $311,000. Lane Generational LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $6,043,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $62,389,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.