Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $100.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market perform" rating on the technology company's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 27.30% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on XYZ. StockNews.com started coverage on Block in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Block from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.23.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded down $14.70 on Friday, reaching $68.34. The company had a trading volume of 36,776,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,326,729. Block has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. The trade was a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,154 shares of the technology company's stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,775,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 18,150.0% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 7,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,769,000. 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.