Geode Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,374,739 Block, Inc. $XYZ

Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,374,739 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,721,000. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.52% of Block at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $264,178.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total value of $417,181.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 289,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,341,350.24. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,441 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,247. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $60.38 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.04. The stock has a market cap of $36.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 2.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Block from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.36.

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.