Citigroup Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $90.00

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $108.00 to $90.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on XYZ. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Block from $112.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 21st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Block from $109.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Block Trading Up 5.8 %

XYZ stock opened at $57.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block has a 1 year low of $53.54 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.59. The firm has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released 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). Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $221,236.53. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 548,597 shares in the company, valued at $37,310,081.97. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,967 shares of company stock worth $1,649,113. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Block by 9.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Block by 6.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,934 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 5.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,286 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Block by 19.2% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 18,516 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 6.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.