State of Michigan Retirement System Purchases 148,600 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 105.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 289,846 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 148,600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Block were worth $20,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 23.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Block by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its stake in Block by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Block by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,332 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $56.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.65. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $88.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $500,946.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 521,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Arnaud Weber sold 7,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $435,633.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 259,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,910,950.40. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.48.

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.