Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $94.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 34.42% from the company’s previous close.

XYZ has been the subject of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $79.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.64.

Block Stock Down 9.8%

XYZ stock traded down $6.95 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,534,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,975,000. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $763,036.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 263,507 shares in the company, valued at $19,288,712.40. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. 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.