Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Purchased by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management increased its stake in Block by 37.3% in Q4, buying 15,670 shares to hold 57,651 shares valued at about $3.75 million.
• Other institutions also boosted positions—most notably Vanguard, which now owns 67,626,485 shares worth $4.89 billion—and institutional investors collectively hold about 70.44% of the stock.
• Block beat quarterly EPS ($0.65 vs. $0.26) on $6.25 billion in revenue, and analysts carry a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $81.72 average price target while the stock trades near $71.24 (market cap ~$42.7B).

Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,651 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,670 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Block were worth $3,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,887,366,000 after purchasing an additional 12,709,824 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $535,305,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Block by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436,380 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $368,213,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Block by 241.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,778,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $273,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671,713 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $71.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.75. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XYZ. Raymond James Financial raised Block to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 15,806 shares of company stock valued at $857,468 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

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.

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