Insider Selling: Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) CFO Sells 1,976 Shares of Stock

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,976 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total transaction of $111,031.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 233,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,141,604.82. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Amrita Ahuja also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 21st, Amrita Ahuja sold 6,345 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $446,180.40.

Block Stock Down 7.0 %

NYSE XYZ opened at $50.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.69 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.53. The company has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.77.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. Block had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 11.92%. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Block from $98.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.46.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Block by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Block by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Block by 92.3% in the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Block

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.