Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its stake in Block by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 1.27 million shares and ending with 3.04 million shares worth about $197.9 million.
• Block’s stock was under some pressure, opening at $68.25 and trading down 3.7%, though the company recently beat earnings expectations with $0.85 EPS versus estimates of $0.30.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: several firms raised price targets, and Block now has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $85.12.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,040,651 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,269,152 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.50% of Block worth $197,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Block by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 268,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,112,675. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 181,680 shares of company stock worth $13,774,881. Insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on XYZ. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Block from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research cut Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.12.

Block Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:XYZ opened at $68.25 on Friday. 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 $68.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $40.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.32, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.56.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About Block

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.