SWS Partners Takes Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

SWS Partners bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 43,732 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $535,305,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.42.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $66.26 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $94.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 2.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 521,352 shares in the company, valued at $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 92,617 shares of company stock worth $6,474,580. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Block

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.