Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price

Block (NYSE:XYZ) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $97.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 37.43% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their price target on Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Macquarie increased their price objective on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Block from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.58.

Block Stock Down 7.7%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded down $5.44 on Friday, hitting $65.49. 21,385,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,038,066. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.73. Block has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total transaction of $417,181.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 289,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,341,350.24. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 127,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,311,918.40. This represents a 2.76% 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 have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.