185,770 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 185,770 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,660,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Block by 301.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Block by 1,033.3% in the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 918 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XYZ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays began coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on Block in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Clear Str upgraded shares of Block to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.61.

Key Stories Impacting Block

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block earned $1.13 per share, ahead of estimates, while net income increased to $565.6 million from $461.5 million a year earlier. Block Q3 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its full-year profit outlook after gross profit growth exceeded its guidance. Cash App contributed to quarterly growth, and faster U.S. payment-volume growth at Square suggests its sales efforts are gaining traction. Block raises full-year profit outlook as Cash App drives Q3 growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Block reached a preliminary settlement with the Department of Justice. A settlement could reduce legal uncertainty, but the available report does not detail its terms. Block lifts profit outlook and reaches preliminary DOJ settlement
• Negative Sentiment: One earnings reaction noted that losses climbed even as adjusted profit improved, a possible concern for investors weighing the stronger outlook against the quality and sustainability of earnings. Block’s adjusted profit jumps as losses climb

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $75.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.30, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.58. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $86.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.45. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.44, for a total value of $446,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,212,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,271,303.68. This represents a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 232,686 shares of company stock valued at $18,360,227 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

About Block

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payments, commerce, and financial services through an ecosystem of business and consumer products. Formerly known as Square, the company was co-founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and changed its corporate name to Block in 2021.

Its Square ecosystem serves businesses with point-of-sale hardware, payment processing, invoicing, payroll, inventory management, customer engagement, online commerce, and other software tools. Block also offers lending and other financial services to eligible business customers through Square-related products.

For consumers, Block operates Cash App, a mobile financial services platform that supports services such as peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, a Cash App Card, direct deposit, investing, and bitcoin transactions, subject to product and geographic availability.