Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 805,998 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,131 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.13% of Block worth $58,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at $27,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Bank of America started coverage on Block in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total value of $225,422.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

XYZ opened at $65.59 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.60. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for 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 business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.