State of Alaska Department of Revenue Takes $4.28 Million Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 59,182 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,277,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $52,591.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 242,718 shares in the company, valued at $15,529,097.64. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $69.58 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.58. 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 $94.25. The firm has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.94.

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.