Block, Inc. $XYZ Stock Position Raised by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,172,831 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 254,402 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $84,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Block by 0.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its position in Block by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Block by 5.4% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,332 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ opened at $53.41 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.86. 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 market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 2.67. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $88.73.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $500,946.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 521,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,302,969.92. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 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 $639,603.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

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.