BNP Paribas Grows Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

BNP Paribas raised its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 11,461.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,024 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,920 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Block were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $555,369.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 601,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,874,146.02. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total value of $90,198.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 479,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,876,033.48. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,930 shares of company stock valued at $3,347,924. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on XYZ. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.12.

Block Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $74.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.84. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.56.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.