173,288 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 173,288 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,771,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kazazian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth approximately $1,628,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,863,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $297,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,862,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 102,308 shares in the company, valued at $8,184,640. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $97,856.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 76,160 shares of company stock valued at $5,899,556. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $61.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on XYZ. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $79.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Block from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.36.

Block Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.