Morgan Stanley Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $71.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $71.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.21.

Block Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE XYZ opened at $70.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.08 and its 200-day moving average is $69.69.

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

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 298,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $763,036.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 263,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,288,712.40. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Block by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 71,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after buying an additional 3,459 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $30,349,000. Balboa Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at about $892,000. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 20.3% during the third quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 6,285 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors 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.