Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 26,600 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 22.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 147,625 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,600 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Block were worth $10,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth about $92,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,105,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,357.20. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total transaction of $135,875.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 518,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,516,040.12. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,943 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Trading Up 1.6%

XYZ stock opened at $49.89 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $85.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on XYZ. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Compass Point raised Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.48.

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.