Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Cuts Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 49.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,075 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 37,793 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $2,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Block Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.50. 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 1-year low of $44.27 and a 1-year high of $82.50. The firm has a market cap of $30.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.67.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 822 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $52,591.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 242,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,529,097.64. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,797 shares of company stock valued at $940,298. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price objective on Block in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research lowered Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.