Amrita Ahuja Sells 6,299 Shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) Stock

Key Points

• Amrita Ahuja, CFO of Block, Inc., sold a total of 6,299 shares at an average price of $75.00, amounting to $472,425.00, representing a 2.11% decrease in her ownership.
• Block's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $0.62, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.21, although revenue of $6.05 billion fell short of the projected $6.32 billion.
• Several research firms have recently upgraded their price targets for Block, with Bank of America raising it from $88.00 to $94.00, and Needham & Company lifting theirs from $80.00 to $100.00.

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,299 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $472,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 292,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,909,900. This represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Amrita Ahuja also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 21st, Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $729,511.20.
• On Monday, July 21st, Amrita Ahuja sold 16,358 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.60, for a total transaction of $1,285,738.80.
• On Wednesday, July 2nd, Amrita Ahuja sold 1,351 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.26, for a total value of $93,570.26.

Block Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:XYZ traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $79.16. The stock had a trading volume of 6,519,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,013,959. The business's 50 day moving average is $71.86 and its 200 day moving average is $64.56. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $48.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. Block's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on XYZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Block from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.97.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $602,000. Private Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $380,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $565,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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