Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 174,019 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,576,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth about $501,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Block by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $759,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 2.9%

XYZ stock opened at $60.39 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $93.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.96 and its 200 day moving average is $71.22. 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 $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 2.66.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were 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 $32,302,969.92. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 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 transaction of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943 in the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on XYZ shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.09.

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.