Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Acquires New Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,378 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XYZ. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $207,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $17,156,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $290,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

More Block News

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management announced cuts of roughly 4,000 roles (nearly half the workforce) and said it will accelerate integrating AI to boost efficiency — a move investors interpreted as materially lowering future operating costs and improving margins. Reuters: Block shares soar as Dorsey leans on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Block reported Q4 results with EPS roughly in line with consensus and revenue up year-over-year (~$6.25B), and management raised 2026 outlook — the combination supported the rally. Zacks: Block Stock Soars
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised ratings/price targets (TD Cowen, Morgan Stanley, Needham, Oppenheimer, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald), signaling analyst confidence that the restructuring and AI investments boost long-term value. Benzinga roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro headwinds and market volatility are present (weak futures / sector rotation), which could cap broader market upside even as Block-specific news drives the stock. Zacks: Oil Surges / Market Moves
• Negative Sentiment: The restructuring will incur substantial one-time costs (reported $450–$500M in severance and charges), which will weigh on near-term cash flow and reported results. WSJ: Layoff costs
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators caution the boost from cuts and AI may not be durable; Seeking Alpha flagged a downgrade risk, and regulators/law firms (Halper Sadeh) are probing potential fiduciary issues — both represent execution and governance risks. Seeking Alpha: Downgrade concerns PR Newswire: Investor probe

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 242,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 16,797 shares of company stock worth $940,298. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.97.

Block Stock Up 17.0%

XYZ opened at $63.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.67. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.