Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Increases Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 2,303.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,914 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,335 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Block were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $65.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.79 and its 200 day moving average is $71.37. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $94.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on XYZ. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,760,051. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $221,531.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 84,243 shares of company stock worth $5,844,695 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.