Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Richard Bernstein Advisors cut its stake in Block by 57.2% in Q3, selling 25,345 shares and ending the quarter with 18,979 shares valued at $1.37 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers—20,352 shares were sold in the past 90 days (about $1.17 million), including recent sales by Owen Britton Jennings and Brian Grassadonia; corporate insiders now own 10.49% of the company.
• Block reported a beat with $0.65 EPS vs. $0.26 expected and $6.25 billion in revenue, and several brokers have raised ratings/targets, leaving a consensus Moderate Buy with a $82.79 price target.

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,979 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 25,345 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Block were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Block during the second quarter worth $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at $26,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 503,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on XYZ. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised 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. Raymond James Financial upgraded Block to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. HSBC upgraded Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.79.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $65.59 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The stock has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.60.

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

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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