Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Block by 6.7% in the first quarter, adding 101,300 shares to bring its total to 1,607,286 shares worth about $96.7 million.
• Block reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.85 EPS versus the $0.30 consensus estimate, with revenue of $6.06 billion, up 4.9% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Block, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.59, while several firms recently raised or maintained buy ratings.

Swiss National Bank grew its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,607,286 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 101,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of Block worth $96,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of XYZ. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Block by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Block by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its stake in Block by 33.3% in the third quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,696 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $79.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 2.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.73. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.21 and a 12-month high of $84.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 43,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,467,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 557,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,612,320. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total transaction of $470,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,838,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $144,059,951.20. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 323,300 shares of company stock valued at $24,742,756. 11.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on XYZ. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.59.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XYZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report).

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.