Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ – Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 637,726 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,819 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $38,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,866,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $516,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at about $385,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $1,861,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,467,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 557,654 shares in the company, valued at $44,612,320. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 357,219 shares of company stock valued at $27,286,681. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Block Stock Down 1.9%
Block (NYSE:XYZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The company had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Block from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. William Blair downgraded Block to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Craig Hallum started coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.64.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on XYZ
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.
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