SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Sells 26,303 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 38.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,486 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 26,303 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $2,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $53.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 2.67. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $88.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.86.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Arnaud Weber sold 7,095 shares of the company’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 value of $435,633.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 259,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,910,950.40. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 over the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XYZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.48.

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.