Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Invests $36.73 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 540,724 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,731,000. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Block as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $64.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $95.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 2.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.42 and a 200 day moving average of $71.07.

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

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $639,603.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 99,198 shares of company stock valued at $6,968,155 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on XYZ. Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

Block Company 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.