Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 40,000 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 42.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,684 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Block were worth $9,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in Block by 59.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 242,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,529,097.64. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,797 shares of company stock worth $940,298. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $63.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

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

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.