New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $25.55 Million Stock Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 392,537 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 17,711 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Block were worth $25,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Block by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 500,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,170,970.75. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.84 and a 200-day moving average of $64.37. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.57.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on XYZ shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Block from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.78.

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.