46,950 Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ Acquired by Alamar Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Alamar Capital Management LLC has acquired 46,950 shares of Block, Inc. during Q2, representing about 1.7% of their portfolio, valued at approximately $3,189,000.
• Block reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62, significantly above analysts' expectations of $0.21, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 1.6%.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70.44% of Block's stock, indicating strong interest from large investment firms.

Alamar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 46,950 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,189,000. Block comprises approximately 1.7% of Alamar Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $210,016,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,353,000. Otter Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,404,000. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,105,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,180,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Trading Up 3.5%

NYSE XYZ opened at $78.59 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $76.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.04. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 2.71.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 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 business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. Block's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XYZ. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 102,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,184,640. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $97,856.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 282,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Block 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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