8,700 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Acquired by Spark Investment Management LLC

Spark Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,700 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,000. Block accounts for approximately 1.6% of Spark Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Block stock opened at $57.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.87 and a 200 day moving average of $70.27.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.36.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $729,511.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total value of $417,181.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 289,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,341,350.24. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 115,441 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,247 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.