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

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $100.00 to $87.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.14.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $68.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Block by 13.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth $1,315,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $10,779,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.