Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Takes $5.38 Million Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 74,478 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,383,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,055,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $415,575,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,628,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,937,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth $6,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $69.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.58. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $94.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 242,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,529,097.64. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.94.

Block 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.