Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its stake in Block by 77% in the first quarter, buying 86,256 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 198,276 shares worth about $11.9 million.
• Block reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.85 versus expectations of $0.30 on revenue of $6.06 billion, while revenue rose 4.9% year over year. The company also reaffirmed guidance for Q2 2026 and FY 2026.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $85.42. Meanwhile, insiders have recently sold shares, including CFO Amrita Ahuja and insider Brian Grassadonia.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 77.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,276 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 86,256 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Block were worth $11,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Block by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA grew its stake in shares of Block by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the technology company's stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE:XYZ opened at $77.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.70, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 2.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 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 $82.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.13.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.Block's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on XYZ. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $555,369.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 601,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,874,146.02. This represents a 1.34% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 237,773 shares of company stock worth $17,802,636. 11.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block 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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