Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Bank of America from $94.00 to $86.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.42% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.64.

Block Stock Down 9.8%

Shares of XYZ stock traded down $6.95 on Friday, hitting $63.98. The stock had a trading volume of 9,534,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,975,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.08 and its 200-day moving average is $69.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $729,511.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 298,431 shares in the company, valued at $21,845,149.20. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at $9,311,918.40. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.