SP Asset Management LLC Sells 10,295 Shares of Block, Inc. $XYZ

SP Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,704 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,295 shares during the quarter. SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYZ has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.52, for a total transaction of $135,875.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 518,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,516,040.12. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $221,531.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,357.20. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,796 shares of company stock worth $3,395,943. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:XYZ opened at $60.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.67. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $91.29. 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 (NYSE:XYZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 5.54%. The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Block 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.