The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $74.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $94.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

XYZ has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.46.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.48. The stock had a trading volume of 12,982,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,756,898. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm's 50-day moving average is $69.53. Block has a one year low of $46.42 and a one year high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,976 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total value of $111,031.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 233,878 shares in the company, valued at $13,141,604.82. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $70,967.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 181,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,221,185.76. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Block by 48.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Block by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.