Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $85.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.46% from the company’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.12.

Block Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE XYZ traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,263,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,185,367. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.08 and a 200 day moving average of $71.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 2.66. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $94.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 521,352 shares in the company, valued at $32,302,969.92. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 84,243 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,695. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 65,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after buying an additional 7,287 shares during the last quarter. Finivi Inc. boosted its position in Block by 3.2% during the third quarter. Finivi Inc. now owns 10,877 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,058,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,814,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.