Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 9,832 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lessened its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,438 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,832 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at about $621,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 18.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,194,419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $234,886,000 after purchasing an additional 494,083 shares during the last quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Block by 6.9% in the second quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,682,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $203,897,000 after purchasing an additional 172,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Block by 528.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,309,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $199,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Block by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,147,988 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $189,353,000 after purchasing an additional 39,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.50, for a total transaction of $3,062,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,177,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,046,300. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 261,686 shares of company stock worth $20,924,307. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ stock traded up $1.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.58. 7,756,635 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,670,644. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.21 and a twelve month high of $88.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Block

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised price targets, reinforcing expectations for further gains. UBS lifted its target to $105, Raymond James to $100 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, and BMO to $102 with a “market perform” rating. Wells Fargo raised its target to $110 and Barclays to $105, both with “overweight” ratings; Argus raised its target to $105 and maintained “buy.” UBS rating Raymond James rating BMO target update Wells Fargo rating Barclays rating Argus rating
• Positive Sentiment: Block reported better-than-expected earnings, with quarterly EPS of $1.13 versus the $0.68 consensus and revenue growth of 9.9% year over year. Shares subsequently reached a 52-week high, and traders bought a large volume of call options—signals of favorable investor expectations. Earnings and 52-week high Call options activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its target from $75 to $85 but kept a “neutral” rating, putting its estimate close to the recent share price. Redburn target update
• Negative Sentiment: Block reportedly made another round of job cuts this year, affecting employees in its Cash App businesses. The reductions may raise concerns about execution or operating pressures despite the recent earnings beat. Report on Block job cuts

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on XYZ shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on Block from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Clear Str raised Block to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Block from $107.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.36.

Block Profile

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payment and commerce tools to businesses and financial services for consumers. Its products include Square, a platform offering payment processing, point-of-sale software and related business services, and Cash App, which provides person-to-person payments and other financial features.

The company also owns Afterpay, a buy-now, pay-later service, and TIDAL, a music and entertainment platform. Block serves businesses and consumers in the United States and other markets, with product availability varying by country.

Founded in 2009 as Square by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, the company adopted the name Block in 2021.