Portside Wealth Group LLC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,575 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,055,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,628,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter worth about $311,000. Lane Generational LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,043,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 7.3%

NYSE:XYZ opened at $61.83 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.22. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.36.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 102,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,184,640. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $97,856.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares in the company, valued at $21,697,441.56. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 76,160 shares of company stock valued at $5,899,556. Company insiders own 10.85% 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.