Bares Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Bares Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,148,963 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $145,979,000. Block makes up approximately 14.2% of Bares Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Bares Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.35% of Block as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $3,730,489,000. Sands Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $702,446,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $634,721,000. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $627,233,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $535,305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $639,603.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,198 shares of company stock worth $6,968,155. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $64.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $39.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.27 and a twelve month high of $95.78.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.