Quantitative Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 49,399 Block, Inc. $XYZ

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 49,399 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,887,366,000 after buying an additional 12,709,824 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 12.2% during the third quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $838,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Block by 192.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $627,233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at $25,189,200. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 7.4%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $59.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.53. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Block’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Block in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.79.

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.