Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given New $74.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $94.00 to $74.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Block from $115.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.39.

Block Price Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a one year low of $52.25 and a one year high of $99.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $317,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 551,850 shares in the company, valued at $38,806,092. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,329.68. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,585 shares of company stock valued at $1,088,423. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Block by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 15.8% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Block by 92.3% in the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. 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.