Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 174,019 Block, Inc. $XYZ

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 174,019 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,576,000.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943. 10.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Block Price Performance

NYSE XYZ opened at $60.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.22. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $93.75.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on XYZ shares. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Block from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.09.

Block Profile

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.