Canaccord Genuity Group Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $120.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 46.33% from the company’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.23.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ stock traded down $14.70 on Friday, reaching $68.34. 36,611,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,776,163. 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 company has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,057.48. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total transaction of $177,255.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at $7,281,531.52. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Block by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,154 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 5,929 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth about $3,775,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of Block by 18,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 7,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 7,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,769,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

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.