Raymond James Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $103.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target reduced by Raymond James from $115.00 to $103.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.14.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $68.34 on Friday. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its 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 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,255,000. Azora Capital LP lifted its stake in Block by 358.4% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,793,000 after purchasing an additional 393,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.