Piper Sandler Cuts Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $85.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price dropped by analysts at Piper Sandler from $101.00 to $85.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 28.81% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Block from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Block Stock Down 3.5 %

Block stock traded down $2.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $65.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,425,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,518. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $40.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in Block by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Block by 48.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.