Arkadios Wealth Advisors Invests $4.19 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 61,695 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,191,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. CNB Bank purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $76.60 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.99. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $46.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.32 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $729,511.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,431 shares in the company, valued at $21,845,149.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $264,178.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $79.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Macquarie raised their price target on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $80.00 price target on Block and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.42.

Block Profile

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.