Hyperion Asset Management Ltd Buys New Stake in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Hyperion Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,159,765 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,086,000. Block accounts for approximately 4.4% of Hyperion Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of XYZ opened at $59.78 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a return on equity of 6.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on XYZ. Citigroup reduced their price target on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 $17,393,858.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,189,200. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Company 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.