Block, Inc. $XYZ Stake Cut by Sicart Associates LLC

Sicart Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 98,974 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,963 shares during the quarter. Block comprises about 1.7% of Sicart Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $6,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.91.

Block Stock Performance

XYZ opened at $56.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.17 and its 200-day moving average is $66.04. The stock has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

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.