Block (NYSE:XYZ) Rating Increased to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $65.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $64.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26.

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

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $103,159.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 82,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its position in Block by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Block by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently 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.