Allianz SE Makes New $5.23 Million Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 77,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,231,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $634,721,000. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $210,016,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $204,223,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,389,000. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $51,054,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 535,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $30,356.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 126,806 shares in the company, valued at $9,481,284.62. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $65.61 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26. 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 (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Block from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $82.00 price target on shares of Block and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.58.

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.