PFG Investments LLC Purchases New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 16,483 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter worth approximately $5,383,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,055,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $415,575,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $1,628,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $13,937,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on XYZ. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.97.

Block Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $66.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.66. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.41. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $94.25.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $611,482.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,965 shares in the company, valued at $16,760,051. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.