751,564 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 751,564 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,054,000. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.12% of Block as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Block from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.36.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $62.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 2.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.03.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The company 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,441 shares of company stock worth $8,778,247. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.