HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,315 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,982 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $3,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of XYZ. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 59.7% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 59.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $75.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.21 and a 12 month high of $82.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.79. The company has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.14, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.57.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The firm’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, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Block from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Arete Research upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $555,369.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 601,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,874,146.02. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% 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. Insiders sold a total of 49,485 shares of company stock worth $3,573,346 in the last 90 days. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.