Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target Lowered to $86.00 at Bank of America

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective lowered by Bank of America from $94.00 to $86.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on XYZ. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Zacks Research raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price objective on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.58.

Block Trading Down 7.7%

Shares of Block stock traded down $5.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.49. 21,392,953 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,641,801. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.80 and a 200-day moving average of $69.78. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $30,356.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 126,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,481,284.62. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 253,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Block by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Block by 0.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in Block by 59.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 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.