Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 40,000 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,684 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Block were worth $9,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,797 shares of company stock valued at $940,298. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Block stock opened at $63.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.22 and its 200 day moving average is $67.94. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The firm has a market cap of $38.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.79.

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.