Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 14,754 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 276,188 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Block were worth $17,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,887,366,000 after buying an additional 12,709,824 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 12.2% during the third quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $838,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Block by 192.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth $535,305,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth $368,213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.44.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,170,970.75. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.78.

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.