Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 520,999 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,077,581 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 520,999 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Block were worth $222,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 23.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 59.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XYZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Compass Point upgraded Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. HSBC raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $72.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.79.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $66.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.65. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.