Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $17.98 Million Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management raised its position in Block by 5.6%, acquiring an additional 14,754 shares to hold 276,188 shares worth about $17.98 million.
• Block beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.65 (vs. $0.26) and revenue of $6.25 billion (up 3.6% YoY); the company has a market cap near $43.1 billion and a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with a $82.78 target.
• Institutions own 70.44% of the stock—led by Vanguard’s ~67.6 million-share stake (~$4.89 billion)—while insiders have sold ~49,725 shares in the last 90 days and collectively hold 10.85%.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 276,188 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Block were worth $17,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,626,485 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,887,366,000 after acquiring an additional 12,709,824 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company's stock worth $838,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Block by 192.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $535,305,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $368,213,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Up 2.0%

Block stock opened at $71.90 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $62.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.44. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $517,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% 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. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Block 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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