Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter, purchasing 27,900 shares valued at about $1.68 million.
• Block reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.85 EPS versus the $0.30 estimate on $6.06 billion in revenue, with revenue up 4.9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains largely positive: multiple firms raised targets or reiterated buys, and Block currently holds a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $87.09.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 27,900 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,679,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Block by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Block by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA raised its holdings in Block by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the technology company's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $77.13 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.21 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.90 and its 200-day moving average is $65.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.54.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 3.30% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on XYZ. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer downgraded Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Block to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities set a $100.00 target price on Block in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Block from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.09.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.93, for a total value of $473,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,922,672 shares in the company, valued at $151,756,500.96. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 8,093 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $606,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 463,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,743,450. This trade represents a 1.72% 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 sold 249,773 shares of company stock valued at $18,725,016. Company insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

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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