Norges Bank Invests $484.39 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Block, buying 7,441,802 shares valued at about $484.4 million, or roughly 1.22% of the company.
• Block reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by $0.55 and revenue rising 4.9% year over year to $6.06 billion. The company also issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $0.86 and FY 2026 guidance of $3.85.
• Analysts remain upbeat on Block, with several raising price targets and the stock holding a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $85.12.

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,441,802 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $484,387,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.22% of Block at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Block by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Block by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Block by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 268,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,112,675. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. The trade was a 5.81% 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 quarter, insiders sold 49,485 shares of company stock worth $3,573,346. 11.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Down 0.0%

XYZ stock opened at $75.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.96 and a 200 day moving average of $63.77. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $82.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.56.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on XYZ shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.12.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.