Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target Lowered to $80.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price reduced by Needham & Company LLC from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on XYZ. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Block from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Block from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.58.

Block Trading Down 7.7%

Shares of XYZ traded down $5.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.49. 21,392,953 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,641,801. Block has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.80 and a 200-day moving average of $69.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 2.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 8.49%. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $763,036.80. Following the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total value of $417,181.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 289,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,341,350.24. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Block by 0.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in Block by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Block by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.