Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $112.00 to $97.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 54.14% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Block Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of XYZ opened at $62.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.53. 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 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $37,310,081.97. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,832 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,288 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Block by 64.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in Block during the third quarter worth $67,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.