Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target Lowered to $70.00 at Barclays

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Barclays from $97.00 to $70.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential upside of 26.38% from the company's previous close.

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A number of other brokerages also recently commented on XYZ. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.52.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Block

Block Trading Up 1.3 %

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Shares of XYZ opened at $55.39 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $63.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77. Block has a 12-month low of $46.42 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. Analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

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In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total value of $27,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,467,305.52. This trade represents a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,585,253.28. The trade was a 2.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted 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 acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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