Block (NYSE:XYZ) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $54.83 and last traded at $54.85, with a volume of 6303930 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $60.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.62.

Block Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 10.7% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 4,608 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in Block by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Moser Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 2.5% in the third quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.