Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 102,849 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,127,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Block by 236.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 110,137 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,960,000 after acquiring an additional 77,385 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Block by 1.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,667,091 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,481,000 after purchasing an additional 31,456 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Block by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 6,101 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $802,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $66.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.66. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $94.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on XYZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total value of $135,875.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 518,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,516,040.12. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

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.