Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 514,692 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Block by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 514,692 shares and now holds 67,111,793 shares (11.04% of the company) valued at about $4.37 billion.
• Block beat expectations last quarter with $0.65 EPS versus $0.26 expected and revenue of $6.25 billion (up 3.6% year-over-year); the company has a market cap of roughly $42.7 billion and a P/E of ~34.
• Insiders have been selling recently—CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan—and analysts rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $82.78.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,111,793 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 514,692 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.04% of Block worth $4,368,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 11,603,057 shares of the technology company's stock worth $838,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Block by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,296,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $816,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436,380 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $535,305,000. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $368,213,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Block by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,626,238 shares of the technology company's stock worth $334,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Down 0.4%

XYZ opened at $71.32 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.80 and a 200-day moving average of $64.40.

Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of Block stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 231,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on XYZ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Block from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Loop Capital began coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.78.

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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