Danske Bank A S Raises Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S raised its stake in Block by 10.1% in Q4 to 285,256 shares (an additional 26,200) valued at about $18.57 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 70.44% of the company.
• Block beat expectations in the most recent quarter, reporting $0.65 EPS versus a $0.26 consensus and revenue of $6.25 billion (up 3.6% year-over-year); the stock has a market cap near $43.1 billion and a P/E of 34.24.
• Analyst sentiment has improved—Morgan Stanley upgraded Block to overweight with a $93 target—and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $82.78.

Danske Bank A S grew its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 285,256 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 26,200 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S's holdings in Block were worth $18,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab raised its position in shares of Block by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 2,158,976 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $140,528,000 after buying an additional 365,864 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Block by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 392,537 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,550,000 after buying an additional 17,711 shares during the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 59,502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,873,000 after buying an additional 5,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Block by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 42,551 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,769,000 after buying an additional 9,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of XYZ opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $62.84 and its 200 day moving average is $64.37. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares in the company, valued at $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,769 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $106,582.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 500,763 shares in the company, valued at $30,170,970.75. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.78.

Block Company Profile

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.

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.