9,374,739 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,374,739 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,721,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $729,511.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total value of $417,181.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 289,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,341,350.24. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,441 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,247. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $60.38 on Friday. Block, Inc. 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 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market cap of $36.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 2.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.04.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Block from $74.00 to $67.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Compass Point reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.36.

Block Company 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.