Cetera Investment Advisers Takes Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 83,919 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $61.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.73. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $99.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.58.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $30,356.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 126,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,481,284.62. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,610 shares of company stock worth $4,739,162. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.42.

Block Company 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.