Block (NYSE:XYZ) Downgraded by Macquarie to "Neutral"

Macquarie downgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $50.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Block from $94.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Block from $103.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.54.

Block Trading Up 4.7 %

Block stock traded up $2.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.18. The stock had a trading volume of 13,083,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,327,492. The business's fifty day moving average is $55.80. Block has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $31.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Block had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $446,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,585,253.28. The trade was a 2.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $70,967.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 181,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,221,185.76. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,324 shares of company stock valued at $1,297,662 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,445,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Block by 391.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 292,571 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,866,000 after purchasing an additional 232,989 shares during the period. Private Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $15,727,000. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $10,779,000. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $9,769,000. 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.