Swedbank AB Buys New Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 74,312 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,371,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.42.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $66.26 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $94.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.25. The firm has a market cap of $40.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 2.62 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,760,051. This trade represents a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $639,603.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,953,356. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 92,617 shares of company stock worth $6,474,580. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block 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.