Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Makes New $14.85 Million Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 218,610 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,850,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $73,000. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $92,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $96,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Block from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.42.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $79.56 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.47. The stock has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 2.71. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 billion. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $729,511.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 298,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.