Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,334 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $210,016,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $204,223,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,389,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,054,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,962,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total transaction of $417,181.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 289,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,341,350.24. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at $9,311,918.40. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.58.

Block Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE XYZ opened at $65.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.33 and a 200-day moving average of $70.11. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $99.26.

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

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.