Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock Price Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) shares crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.51 and traded as low as $57.22. Block shares last traded at $58.09, with a volume of 5,621,428 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James dropped their target price on Block from $115.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Macquarie reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Block in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Block from $94.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.43.

Block Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.33. The firm has a market cap of $36.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business 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%. Analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,520 shares of the company'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 transaction of $317,846.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 551,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,806,092. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 81,999 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,305.52. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,324 shares of company stock worth $1,297,662. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in Block by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,154 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,775,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its stake in Block by 18,150.0% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 7,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,769,000. 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.