The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 86,433 shares of Block in the second quarter, valued at approximately $3.29 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70.44% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with three Strong Buy and 29 Buy ratings versus eight Holds; the average price target is $95.84. Block recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating the $0.48 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $6.62 billion.
• Block shares opened at $77.78 after declining 5.2%, with a 52-week range of $48.21 to $86.92. Insiders sold 378,006 shares worth about $30.16 million over the past 90 days, though the transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 86,433 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,291,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 301.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 389 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $43,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Block from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.84.

Block Stock Down 5.2%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $77.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $86.92. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $79.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 41,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $3,519,850.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,566,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,498,791.20. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $783,991.73. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,889,486.66. This represents a 2.20% 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 sold a total of 378,006 shares of company stock worth $30,161,501 over the last ninety days. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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