138,160 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 138,160 Block shares worth approximately $5.26 million, while institutional investors collectively own 70.44% of the company.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $95.84, above Block’s reported opening price of $81.96.
• Block exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.02 EPS versus a $0.48 estimate and $6.62 billion in revenue, up 9.3% year over year; insiders, however, sold $29.2 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 138,160 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,261,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $621,703,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Block by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,023,441 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,042,966,000 after purchasing an additional 4,727,217 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,406,899 shares of the technology company's stock worth $934,121,000 after purchasing an additional 67,560 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $535,305,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $484,387,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $105.00 price target on Block in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $783,991.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,889,486.66. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,467,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,612,320. The trade was a 7.21% 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. Insiders sold a total of 366,006 shares of company stock valued at $29,155,301 over the last ninety days. 11.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $81.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.21 and a 12 month high of $86.92. The company has a market capitalization of $49.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 146.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%.Block's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Block Company 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.

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