Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 234,712 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,963,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $639,603.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 243,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,953,356. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 521,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,617 shares of company stock worth $6,474,580. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $65.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $94.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.16.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.42.

About Block

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.