Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Purchases 365,864 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its Block stake by 20.4%, acquiring 365,864 shares in Q4 to hold 2,158,976 shares (about 0.36% of Block) valued at $140,528,000, which makes Block roughly 2.0% of the fund’s portfolio and its 14th largest holding.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" on Block with an average price target of $82.78, based on 4 Strong Buy, 27 Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell ratings.
• Institutional investors own 70.44% of Block, while insiders have sold 49,725 shares (≈$3.4M) in the last 90 days but still hold about 10.85% of the company.

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,158,976 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 365,864 shares during the period. Block comprises about 2.0% of Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab owned about 0.36% of Block worth $140,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on XYZ shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial raised Block to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Four 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.78.

Block Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of XYZ opened at $70.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 2.61. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $82.50. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $62.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 231,262 shares in the company, valued at $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 49,725 shares of company stock valued at $3,401,393 over the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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