Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC has purchased 59,803 shares of Block, Inc., valued at approximately $4,062,000, during the 2nd quarter.
• Block, Inc. has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.30.
• Insider selling has occurred, with notable transactions reducing ownership stakes, as insiders sold over $9 million in shares over the last quarter.

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 59,803 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,062,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $46,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $73,000. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $92,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $94,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Compass Point restated a "sell" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $82.00 price objective on Block and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Block from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Block from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.30.

Block Stock Up 3.5%

XYZ opened at $78.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.04.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.32 billion. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 535,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,871,680. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $763,036.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 263,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,288,712.40. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,355,075 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Block Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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