Optimum Investment Advisors Acquires Shares of 1,129 Block, Inc. $XYZ

Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth about $319,000. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,604,000. City State Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $63,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,826,000. Finally, CNB Bank purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Block stock opened at $79.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 2.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.39. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.27 and a 1 year high of $99.26.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 billion. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Compass Point reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Dhananjay Prasanna sold 5,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.72, for a total value of $417,181.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 289,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,341,350.24. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,811,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.