Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $90.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 28.84% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James decreased their target price on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Block from $94.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.22.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $46.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.86. 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 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 235,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,585,253.28. This trade represents a 2.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.48, for a total value of $27,240.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,305.52. This represents a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Block by 18.3% in the 4th 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 shares of Block by 92.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.