Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.11% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.58.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded down $4.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.60. The company had a trading volume of 15,467,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,006,967. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 102,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,184,640. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.