IFP Advisors Inc Makes New $2.71 Million Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,988 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth about $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on XYZ shares. HSBC raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Block Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $59.25 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.68. The firm has a market cap of $36.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $70,441.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

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.