Quantitative Investment Management LLC Invests $3.57 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 49,399 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,887,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,709,824 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $838,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Block by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $816,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $634,721,000. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $627,233,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $59.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.53. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

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, 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the business’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 value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.