New York State Teachers Retirement System Acquires New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 374,826 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,089,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.06% of Block at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth about $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth about $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $639,603.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $70.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $94.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on XYZ. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.94.

Block Profile

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.