Hartford Investment Management Co. Invests $2.32 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Hartford Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 32,140 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $535,305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $57.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.98. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $88.73. The stock has a market cap of $34.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.67. 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 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on XYZ. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Four equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.09.

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.