SWS Partners Buys 30,515 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

SWS Partners grew its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 69.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,247 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,515 shares during the period. Block accounts for 0.9% of SWS Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. SWS Partners’ holdings in Block were worth $4,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,887,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,709,824 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Block by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $838,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,317 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Block by 192.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $816,378,000 after buying an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $535,305,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on XYZ shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $59.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.85 and its 200 day moving average is $65.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.