Aberdeen Group plc Takes Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 402,561 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,349,000. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.07% of Block as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $535,305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $49.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.48. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $85.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $52,591.56. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on XYZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.48.

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.