Korea Investment CORP Grows Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 241,672 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,500 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Block were worth $17,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XYZ. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Block by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC lifted its position in Block by 3.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Block by 59.7% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:XYZ opened at $65.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.60.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares in the company, valued at $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Block

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.