First Trust Advisors LP Invests $49.22 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 724,577 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,221,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of XYZ. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $61.07 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.12. The firm has a market cap of $37.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $98.99.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.42.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,760,051. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 535,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 99,198 shares of company stock worth $6,968,155. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.