Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $87.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $100.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 4.73% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on XYZ. StockNews.com began coverage on Block in a report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Macquarie upped their price target on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.40.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $83.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. As a group, analysts expect that Block will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp lifted its stake in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Block by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Block by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.