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

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price cut by Bank of America from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

XYZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.91.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $56.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.11.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block 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 in the company, valued at $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last ninety days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Block during the third quarter worth $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

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.