Block (NYSE:XYZ) Insider Sells $264,178.80 in Stock

Key Points

• Block, Inc. insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares valued at $264,178.80 at an average price of $73.20, reducing their ownership by 2.76%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a net margin of 12.32% and a EPS of $0.62, beating analyst expectations but with revenue slightly below forecasts.
• Research analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Block shares, with target prices ranging from $57.00 to $95.00 based on recent reports.

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $264,178.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,311,918.40. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Chrysty Esperanza also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 2nd, Chrysty Esperanza sold 406 shares of Block stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.26, for a total value of $28,119.56.

Block Price Performance

NYSE XYZ traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $79.16. The stock had a trading volume of 6,519,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,013,959. The firm's 50 day moving average is $71.86 and its 200 day moving average is $64.56. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.71.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Block from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus set a $59.00 price objective on Block in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $79.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.97.

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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