California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 955,615 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,245 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Block worth $69,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of XYZ. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 3.2% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Block by 23.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Block by 0.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $59.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.79.

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.