Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Block (NYSE:XYZ) Price Target to $90.00

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reduced its price target for Block (NYSE:XYZ) from $95.00 to $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.22% from the current stock price despite maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Block's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.62, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.21, while its revenue of $6.05 billion fell short of the $6.32 billion consensus estimate.
• Insider trading activity shows CFO Amrita Ahuja sold over 16,000 shares of Block stock, leading to a 5.04% decrease in their ownership position.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Block from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.82.

Block Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.78. 6,689,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,814,200. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.99. Block has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 2.71.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. The business's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 16,358 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.60, for a total value of $1,285,738.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 308,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,240,004.20. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,009 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $169,677.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 131,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,399,890.53. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,438 shares of company stock worth $6,217,707. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.