Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 82,446 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC increased its stake in Block by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 82,446 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,223,824 shares valued at about $79.7 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with director Anthony Mathew Eisen and insider Brian Grassadonia both selling shares; insiders have sold 225,773 shares over the last 90 days.
• Block reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.30 consensus estimate, and several analysts raised price targets, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy rating and an average target of $85.42.

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,223,824 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,446 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.20% of Block worth $79,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $535,305,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $484,387,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Block by 192.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth about $368,213,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 241.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,778,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $273,058,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 135,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.81, for a total value of $10,426,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,032,990 shares in the company, valued at $156,153,961.90. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,166 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total value of $555,369.66. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 601,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,874,146.02. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days, insiders sold 225,773 shares of company stock valued at $16,912,896. Insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $72.96 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.77 and a 200-day moving average of $64.78. The company has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.56. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.42.

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.

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