TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Makes New $18 Million Investment in Block, Inc. $XYZ

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 264,975 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,000,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter worth approximately $2,055,000. Lane Generational LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,043,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,389,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $65.61 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.13 and its 200-day moving average is $70.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total transaction of $264,178.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 127,212 shares in the company, valued at $9,311,918.40. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 35,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,811,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 535,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,871,680. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,041 shares of company stock valued at $9,052,531. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on XYZ shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Block from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $82.00 price target on shares of Block and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.58.

Block 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.