Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys Shares of 34,107 Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners acquired 34,107 Block shares worth approximately $1.3 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company, with several major funds establishing or increasing positions.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Block receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $95.84; recent targets range from $93 to $105.
• Block reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating estimates of $0.48, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $6.62 billion. Shares opened at $83.58, near their 52-week high, although insiders have sold more than 501,000 shares over the past three months.

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 34,107 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,299,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $621,703,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $535,305,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $484,387,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $368,213,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,023,441 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,042,966,000 after acquiring an additional 4,727,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Block from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.84.

Block Trading Down 1.5%

Block stock opened at $83.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.09. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.53. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $86.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. Block's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. Analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $783,991.73. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,889,486.66. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total transaction of $673,618.66. Following the transaction, the insider owned 513,981 shares in the company, valued at $42,362,314.02. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 501,756 shares of company stock valued at $39,582,259. 11.37% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source