Meridiem Capital Partners LP Sells 91,177 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Meridiem Capital Partners cut its stake in Block by 24.5%, selling 91,177 shares in the quarter and finishing with 281,195 shares valued at $20.322 million.
• Block topped expectations with $0.65 EPS vs. $0.26 consensus and $6.25 billion in revenue (up 3.6% YoY); the stock trades near $60.84 with a $36.97 billion market cap and a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" (target $82.79).

Meridiem Capital Partners LP cut its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 281,195 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 91,177 shares during the quarter. Meridiem Capital Partners LP's holdings in Block were worth $20,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter worth approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $535,305,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Block Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,092,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,961,904. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.53. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $82.50. The firm has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720. 10.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Block from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.79.

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.

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