Block, Inc. $XYZ Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 54.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,934 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,656 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Block were worth $516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Block by 24.0% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 179,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,956,000 after acquiring an additional 34,678 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,383,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,400,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 2,385.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 612,358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,255,000 after buying an additional 587,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,323,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 30,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $2,318,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,561,200. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 268,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,112,675. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,725 shares of company stock worth $3,401,393. Company insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE XYZ opened at $70.90 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.11 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.23. The firm has a market cap of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.57.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 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 business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Arete Research upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.46.

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.