Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,709,824 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Block worth $4,887,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter worth $27,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XYZ. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.97.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $50.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $85.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Arnaud Weber sold 7,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $435,633.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 259,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,910,950.40. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 521,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,302,969.92. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.