Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Takes $4.54 Million Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 62,783 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,537,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $2,055,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at about $415,575,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $1,628,000. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $13,937,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,690,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $69.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $94.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% 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. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 in the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.94.

About Block

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.