Man Group plc Purchases New Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Man Group acquired 34,551 Block shares worth approximately $1.32 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 70.44% of the company.
• Block reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating the $0.48 consensus estimate, on $6.62 billion in revenue—up 9.3% year over year. Shares were up 6.0% and opened at $82.52.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $95.42; however, insiders have sold 372,006 shares worth $29.7 million over the past 90 days.

Man Group plc acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 34,551 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,316,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth $621,703,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Block by 41.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,727,217 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,406,899 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $934,121,000 after purchasing an additional 67,560 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $535,305,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $484,387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $82.52 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $86.92. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $80.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.76. The firm has a market cap of $49.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 6,000 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.58, for a total value of $495,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,458,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $120,457,133.76. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 423,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,889,486.66. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 372,006 shares of company stock worth $29,736,461 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Block from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.42.

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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