Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Acquired by Hyperion Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Hyperion Asset Management Ltd boosted its Block stake by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 492,755 more shares and bringing its total to 2,652,520 shares worth about $172.7 million.
• Block reported stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $0.85 EPS versus the $0.30 consensus estimate on revenue of $6.06 billion, up 4.9% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $85.42, though insiders have also been selling shares recently.

Hyperion Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,652,520 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 492,755 shares during the quarter. Block comprises approximately 4.8% of Hyperion Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.44% of Block worth $172,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,887,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,709,824 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $535,305,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth $484,387,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Block by 192.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $368,213,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 value of $2,318,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 601,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,874,146.02. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 211,680 shares of company stock worth $15,861,321 in the last three months. 11.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $72.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.56. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business'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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Block from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Block from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.42.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XYZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report).

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.