Ajmere Dale Sells 2,724 Shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) CAO Ajmere Dale sold 2,724 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $167,253.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 99,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,114,519. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ajmere Dale also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 8th, Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of Block stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $60,000.00.
• On Thursday, October 2nd, Ajmere Dale sold 520 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $38,880.40.
• On Wednesday, October 1st, Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of Block stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.22, for a total transaction of $54,165.00.

Block Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded up $1.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.64. 7,217,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,071,260. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.66. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 15.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,086 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,494,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Block by 11.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,177 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Block by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $289,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.