Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $112.00 to $97.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 41.94% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on XYZ. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.24.

Block Stock Down 17.7 %

Block stock opened at $68.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Block by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $581,923,000 after purchasing an additional 133,002 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Block by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $147,846,000 after buying an additional 45,472 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after buying an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,121,000. Hedge funds and other 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.