Block (NYSE:XYZ) Share Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) shares passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $0.00 and traded as high as $61.65. Block shares last traded at $61.06, with a volume of 9,747,396 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Block from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Block Stock Up 2.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $221,236.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 548,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,310,081.97. This trade represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. The trade was a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter valued at $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Block by 770.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after buying an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth approximately $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Block by 358.4% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,793,000 after acquiring an additional 393,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,445,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.