Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Bought by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 56.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 990,590 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 356,993 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Block were worth $71,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in Block by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 53,996 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,065 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $540,000. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth $8,010,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 20,122 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,085 shares of Block stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 521,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,302,969.92. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 8.8%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $49.07 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $85.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 2.67. 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 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.