Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 54,916,661 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,730,489,000. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.93% of Block as of its most recent SEC filing.

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A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 535,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,871,680. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $97,856.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 76,160 shares of company stock valued at $5,899,556. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Up 7.3%

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Shares of Block stock opened at $61.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.63 and a 200-day moving average of $70.22. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 12.99%.The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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A number of analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.36.

Read Our Latest Analysis on XYZ

Block Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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