Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 41,035 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,017,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in Block by 10.8% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 38,895 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Block by 11.0% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,004 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Block by 0.9% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 75,285 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc lifted its stake in Block by 14.2% during the third quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 13,689 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 71 West Capital Partners boosted its position in shares of Block by 9.2% during the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 6,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total transaction of $673,618.66. Following the sale, the insider owned 513,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,362,314.02. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $783,991.73. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at $34,889,486.66. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 249,686 shares of company stock worth $19,981,767 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XYZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on Block from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Block from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.32.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $85.74 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.82. The company has a market cap of $51.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.87, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.45. Block had a net margin of 1.80% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.