Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New $3.05 Million Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 44,931 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XYZ. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $210,016,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $204,223,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $36,353,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $14,850,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,826,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Down 4.5%

NYSE XYZ opened at $76.60 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.99. The firm has a market cap of $46.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 2.71.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 billion. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on XYZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research set a $80.00 price target on Block and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $97,856.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $78,508.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 253,956 shares in the company, valued at $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Profile

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.