SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 67,789 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,605,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth $51,054,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $240,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $486,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Future Fund LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $2,775,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Block from $94.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $97,856.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 282,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 102,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,184,640. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.4%

XYZ opened at $65.85 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.11. The stock has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 2.73. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS 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 7.41%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Block 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.