Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding reduced its Block stake by 8.3% in the third quarter, selling 13,368 shares and retaining 147,435 shares valued at approximately $10.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70.44% of Block.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with Block receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $95.39. Recent firms raised price targets as high as $103, although Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Block reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, exceeding the $0.48 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $6.62 billion. Shares opened at $77.88, down 2.4%, with a market capitalization of $46.79 billion.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,435 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,368 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Block were worth $10,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $621,703,000. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Block by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,682,854 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $203,897,000 after acquiring an additional 172,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Block by 528.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,309,296 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $199,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,523 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Block by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,147,988 shares of the technology company's stock worth $189,353,000 after acquiring an additional 39,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,624,534 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,944,000 after acquiring an additional 25,067 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.70, for a total value of $454,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,272,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $96,341,270.40. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,565 shares of company stock worth $24,391,386. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on XYZ. Argus upped their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Benchmark raised Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Zacks Research lowered Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Block from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.39.

Block Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:XYZ opened at $77.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.07, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $86.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.77 and a 200 day moving average of $74.88.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Block's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Block Company Profile

Block, Inc NYSE: XYZ, formerly known as Square, is a financial technology company that develops tools for businesses, consumers and creators. Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, the company changed its corporate name to Block in 2021 to reflect the expansion of its operations beyond its original seller-payments business.

Block's Square ecosystem provides payment processing, point-of-sale hardware and software, business banking, invoicing, payroll, inventory management and other services for merchants.

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