Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 12,549 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 624,907 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,549 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $40,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 179,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,956,000 after acquiring an additional 34,678 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,383,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,400,000. Hartford Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,323,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,277,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of Block stock opened at $74.86 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 6.97% and a net margin of 3.30%.The business had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Block from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Block from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.51.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total value of $106,582.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,170,970.75. The trade was a 0.35% 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, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at $37,561,200. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,725 shares of company stock valued at $3,401,393. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Block News

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block reported Q1 EPS of $0.85, well above estimates, while revenue came in at $6.06 billion and gross profit growth remained resilient across Cash App and Square. Block (XYZ) Q1 Earnings Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised 2026 guidance, with full-year EPS now expected at $3.85 and Q2 EPS guidance also above Wall Street expectations, reinforcing confidence in the company’s outlook. Block Lifts Guidance on Higher Payment Volumes, Boom in Lending
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more upbeat after the report, including Citigroup, RBC, KBW, Needham, and BTIG, with multiple firms raising price targets and reiterating buy/outperform ratings. Analyst price target updates on Block
• Neutral Sentiment: Some investors may note that one analyst, Piper Sandler, kept an underweight rating even while raising its price target, indicating there is still some debate over how much upside remains. Piper Sandler price target update on Block

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.