Bank of America Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $80.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Bank of America from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.91% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Arete Research raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Truist Financial raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.91.

Block Stock Down 0.2%

Block stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,857,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,719,605. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $35.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.65.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Block by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.