Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Invests $12.30 Million in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 181,025 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in XYZ. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,730,489,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $634,721,000. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $210,016,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,223,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $111,109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $61.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.42.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,581 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $493,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 285,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,325. This trade represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.22, for a total transaction of $54,165.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 103,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,480,403.16. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 61,360 shares of company stock worth $4,799,162 in the last quarter. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on XYZ shares. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Block from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.42.

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.