Block (NYSE:XYZ) Cut to "Hold" at Seaport Res Ptn

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on XYZ. Benchmark cut Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Block from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Block from $86.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Block from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.03.

Block Stock Down 20.4 %

NYSE XYZ opened at $46.57 on Friday. Block has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $28.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.86.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. Research analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

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 transaction of $446,180.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 181,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,221,185.76. The trade was a 0.69 % 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Block by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 92.3% in the fourth quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.