Canaccord Genuity Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 71.78% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $87.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.22.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $46.57 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $28.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.86. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued 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 company had revenue of $6.03 billion for 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%. On average, analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total value of $27,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 81,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,467,305.52. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $70,967.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 181,904 shares in the company, valued at $10,221,185.76. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,324 shares of company stock worth $1,297,662 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Block by 67.7% during the 4th 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 period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Block by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Block by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.