Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 13,368 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 147,435 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,368 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $10,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in Block by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 7,757 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Block by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Block by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,044,530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,804,000 after purchasing an additional 106,990 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Block by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,220,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $77.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $86.92. The stock has a market cap of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.07, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.88.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total transaction of $783,991.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,889,486.66. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Eisen sold 41,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $3,519,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,566,672 shares in the company, valued at $134,498,791.20. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,565 shares of company stock worth $24,391,386. 11.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. William Blair downgraded shares of Block to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Block to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Block from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.39.

About Block

Block, Inc (NYSE:XYZ), formerly known as Square, is a financial technology company that develops tools for businesses, consumers and creators. Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, the company changed its corporate name to Block in 2021 to reflect the expansion of its operations beyond its original seller-payments business.

Block’s Square ecosystem provides payment processing, point-of-sale hardware and software, business banking, invoicing, payroll, inventory management and other services for merchants.