Block (NYSE:XYZ) Downgraded by Macquarie to “Neutral”

Macquarie downgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $50.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Block from $108.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Block from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.15.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $46.65 on Monday. 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 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.49.

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 during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $111,031.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 233,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,141,604.82. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,467 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 82,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,329.68. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its position in Block by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Block by 18.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Block by 67.7% in 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. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.