City State Bank Invests $63,000 in Block, Inc. $XYZ

City State Bank bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 925 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $46,000. CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Finally, S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of XYZ opened at $79.56 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.45 and its 200 day moving average is $68.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 2.71.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.41. Block had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 directly owned 535,896 shares in the company, valued at $42,871,680. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,966 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.20, for a total value of $729,511.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 298,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,845,149.20. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,041 shares of company stock worth $9,355,075 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $79.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.42.

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.