Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 40,008 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 10,417 shares of the company’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 $639,603.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 243,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,953,356. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $611,482.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,760,051. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 92,617 shares of company stock worth $6,474,580 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Up 0.9%

Block stock opened at $64.62 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.27 and a 52 week high of $95.78. The stock has a market cap of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 2.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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 recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

About Block

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.