Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $101.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.81% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on XYZ. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Block from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.31.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock traded down $2.36 during trading on Monday, hitting $65.99. The stock had a trading volume of 8,425,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,518. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. 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 has a market capitalization of $40.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.72, for a total value of $177,255.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 83,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,281,531.52. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Block by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $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.