Viawealth LLC Purchases New Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Viawealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,592 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $63.64 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.76.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Arnaud Weber sold 7,095 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $435,633.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 259,136 shares in the company, valued at $15,910,950.40. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,958 shares of company stock valued at $7,712,257. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $79.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

About Block

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.