The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $94.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.41% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on XYZ. StockNews.com began coverage on Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded 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. KeyCorp cut their target price on Block from $115.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.39.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded up $3.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.54. 4,381,092 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,464,038. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.84. Block has a 1 year low of $52.25 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.78. 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 (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 3,253 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 548,597 shares in the company, valued at $37,310,081.97. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $103,159.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 82,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,649,113 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Graypoint LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,445,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 391.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 292,571 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,866,000 after acquiring an additional 232,989 shares during the period. Private Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,727,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $581,923,000 after acquiring an additional 133,002 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $10,779,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

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.