UBS Group Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $97.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price decreased by analysts at UBS Group from $98.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 42.37% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.90.

Block Trading Down 18.0 %

XYZ traded down $14.91 on Friday, reaching $68.13. 26,434,065 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,498,903. Block has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.52. 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 posted its quarterly 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). Block had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 5.24%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Block will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. The trade was a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings 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 during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.