Securian Asset Management Inc. Invests $1.92 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 26,541 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on XYZ. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.94.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $70.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.18 and its 200 day moving average is $71.45. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $94.25. 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 market cap of $42.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its 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. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Company 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.