Retirement Systems of Alabama Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 117,234 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,473,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.09.

Block Trading Down 3.2%

Block stock opened at $62.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 2.66. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $94.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%.Block’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $639,603.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

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.