IFP Advisors Inc Invests $2.71 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 36,988 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter worth $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. HSBC raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $59.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.92 and a 200-day moving average of $66.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the 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 owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. 10.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.