Piper Sandler Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $51.00

by · The Markets Daily

Block (NYSE:XYZ – Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 23.01% from the stock’s previous close.

XYZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.82.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on XYZ

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.25. The stock had a trading volume of 854,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,492,774. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $94.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.62. The company has a market cap of $40.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $639,603.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth about $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

(Get Free Report)

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.

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