Engineers Gate Manager LP Invests $18.50 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 272,388 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,503,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth about $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at about $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $64.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $95.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.07. 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 (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Block’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on XYZ shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial upgraded Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.42.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,953,356. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares in the company, valued at $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 99,198 shares of company stock valued at $6,968,155 over the last ninety days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.