Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Bought by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,778 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,904 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Block were worth $12,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on XYZ. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Block Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of Block stock opened at $50.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.65.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total transaction of $135,875.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 518,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,516,040.12. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,448 shares of company stock valued at $422,848 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block 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.