The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $82.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $96.00 to $82.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.58.

Block Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Block stock opened at $66.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $264,178.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 127,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,055,000. Lane Generational LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $6,043,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $62,389,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,094,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Block

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.