Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Takes Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 14,227 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on XYZ shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Block in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Block Trading Up 3.0%

NYSE XYZ opened at $61.16 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.74 and its 200 day moving average is $66.44.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 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.