Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,129 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,261 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $65.31 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.92.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $52,591.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 242,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,529,097.64. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 16,797 shares of company stock valued at $940,298 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

About Block

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.