Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,703 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,229 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Block were worth $5,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE XYZ opened at $65.88 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $94.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.39. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Truist Financial set a $72.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 259,136 shares in the company, valued at $15,910,950.40. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. 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.