Block (NYSE:XYZ) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its target price cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $71.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas cut Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $79.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.21.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $70.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Block has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.08 and a 200 day moving average of $69.69. The company has a market cap of $43.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $78,508.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 253,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 102,308 shares in the company, valued at $8,184,640. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 119,041 shares of company stock worth $9,052,531. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.