DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Acquires New Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,353,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.09% of Block as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Financial Perspectives Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,040,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $290,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 535,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,871,680. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,988,290.12. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $77.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 2.71. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $6.32 billion. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.03.

About Block

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.