Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $18.95 Million Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 249,297 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,947,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $245,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,768,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,531,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,299,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,687,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.48, for a total transaction of $107,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 460,128 shares in the company, valued at $37,491,229.44. The trade was a 0.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $492,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,476,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,087,104. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 501,756 shares of company stock valued at $39,582,259. Company insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Block from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.84.

Block Trading Down 1.5%

XYZ opened at $83.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.64 and a 200 day moving average of $70.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.21 and a 12 month high of $86.92. The firm has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Block Company Profile

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.