California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 54,050,161 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Block stake by 6,740% in the second quarter, buying 54.05 million shares to own approximately 9.13% of the company, valued at $4.17 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42; several firms recently raised their targets to between $97 and $105.
• Block reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating the $0.48 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $6.62 billion. Shares opened at $79.45, and insiders have sold $29.9 million of stock over the past three months.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 6,740.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,852,088 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,050,161 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 9.13% of Block worth $4,168,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 301.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 389 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Block from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.42.

Block Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $79.45 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $86.92. The company has a market cap of $47.73 billion, a PE ratio of 141.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $80.57 and its 200 day moving average is $71.82.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%.The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anthony Eisen sold 41,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $3,519,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,566,672 shares in the company, valued at $134,498,791.20. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $3,467,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,612,320. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders have sold 372,006 shares of company stock valued at $29,886,161. Company insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Block Company Profile

Block, Inc is a global technology company that develops financial services and commerce tools for businesses and consumers. Founded in 2009 as Square, the company changed its corporate name to Block in 2021 to reflect the expansion of its operations beyond seller-focused payment solutions.

Through its Square ecosystem, Block provides payment processing, point-of-sale hardware and software, business banking, invoicing, payroll, inventory management and other tools for merchants. Its consumer-focused Cash App offers services that may include peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, investing, debit-card access and bitcoin-related functionality, subject to availability and applicable regulations.

Block also owns Afterpay, a buy now, pay later platform, and has operated additional businesses involving music streaming and bitcoin infrastructure.

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.