Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 520,999 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Block by 20.4%, buying 520,999 shares to hold 3,077,581 shares (about 0.50% of the company) valued at roughly $222.5 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds own about 70.44% of the stock.
• Block beat Q results, reporting $0.65 EPS versus $0.26 expected and $6.25 billion in revenue (up 3.6% year-over-year); the stock has a $40.4 billion market cap, a PE of 31.7, and a 52‑week range of $44.27–$82.50.
• Analysts are broadly positive but mixed: MarketBeat shows a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $82.79 target, while individual price targets and ratings vary roughly from $72 to $105 and include several recent upgrades and downgrades.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,077,581 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 520,999 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.50% of Block worth $222,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter worth $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $66.54 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $61.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.80. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The stock has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.65.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the firm'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 owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Block 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.

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