Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 12,243 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,853 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,243 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $16,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research cut Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.12.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $69.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.66. 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 $65.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.45.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943 in the last ninety days. 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.