Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 2,691,502 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 34.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,188,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,691,502 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.85% of Block worth $374,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America started coverage on Block in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $59.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $82.50. The company has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.83 and its 200 day moving average is $67.08.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

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.