Ethic Inc. Invests $2.18 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has invested approximately $2.18 million in Block, Inc. by purchasing 32,714 shares during the second quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes the sales of stock by Chief Accounting Officer Ajmere Dale and insider Owen Britton Jennings, with total sales valued around $9.36 million in the last ninety days.
• Block, Inc. reported earnings per share of $0.62 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, but with revenue slightly below forecasts at $6.05 billion.

Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 32,714 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,180,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $73,000. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $92,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $94,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $60,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 102,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,184,640. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $78,508.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075 over the last ninety days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of XYZ opened at $79.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.25. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $99.26.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Block from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday. Finally, Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.42.

Block Company Profile

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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