AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Acquires New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired 23,607 shares of Block, Inc. valued at approximately $1.6 million during the second quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Block have varied, with some firms like Evercore ISI and Wells Fargo upgrading their ratings, while BNP Paribas Exane downgraded it; overall, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity at Block shows key executives sold over 123,000 shares in the past 90 days, indicating a potential shift in ownership dynamics.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,607 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,604,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. CNB Bank bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. City State Bank bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.42.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $729,511.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,311,918.40. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $79.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.39. 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 cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 2.71. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.