Morgan Stanley Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $71.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $71.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Block from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.58.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $66.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.99. The stock has a market cap of $40.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 12.99%.The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $763,036.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 263,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,288,712.40. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $729,511.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,431 shares in the company, valued at $21,845,149.20. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 3.2% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Block by 0.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its stake in Block by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 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.