The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $74.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $94.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 26.41% from the stock’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.39.

Block Stock Up 5.6 %

XYZ stock traded up $3.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,381,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,464,038. Block has a 52-week low of $52.25 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.84. The stock has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,520 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $317,846.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 551,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,806,092. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Block by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 92.3% in the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. 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.