Barclays Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $97.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays from $112.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 41.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on XYZ. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Block from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.24.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ stock opened at $68.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. Equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. SouthState Corp boosted its position in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.