Oak Thistle LLC Purchases New Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 40,008 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. JBGlobal.com LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $422,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $4,238,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $326,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $555,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $316,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 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 value of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $639,603.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 92,617 shares of company stock worth $6,474,580. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Price Performance

XYZ stock opened at $64.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.24. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $95.78. The company has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 2.65. 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 released 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. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.