Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 11.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 205,221 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 26,621 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $14,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $69.58 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $94.25. The stock has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total transaction of $135,875.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 518,331 shares in the company, valued at $35,516,040.12. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. 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.