Conway Capital Management Inc. Invests $290,000 in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Conway Capital Management Inc. announced a new investment of $290,000 in Block, Inc. by purchasing 4,270 shares during the second quarter.
• Major institutional interest is evident as 70.44% of Block's stock is now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, with several significant purchases made in the same period.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings and target prices for Block stock, with KeyCorp increasing the target price from $60 to $100 and most analysts giving it a "Buy" rating.

Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,270 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $94,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth $218,000. Hartline Investment Corp purchased a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth $265,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at $310,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,276 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $97,856.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 282,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,697,441.56. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 253,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,988,290.12. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 144,692 shares of company stock valued at $11,058,664. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on XYZ. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $80.00 target price on Block and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.64.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $75.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 2.71. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $76.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.38. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Block

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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