Employees Retirement System of Texas Takes $1.67 Million Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,536 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,667,000.

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Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XYZ. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. Compass Point raised shares of Block from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Block from $96.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Block from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.42.

• Block Levels Up: What S&P 500 Inclusion Means for Investors

Read Our Latest Report on Block

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ opened at $65.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 2.73. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.27 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The firm's fifty day moving average is $72.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.68.

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Block (NYSE:XYZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.29. Block had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 12.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total transaction of $611,482.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 272,965 shares in the company, valued at $16,760,051. This trade represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 3,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.40, for a total value of $221,531.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,198 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,357.20. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 108,958 shares of company stock valued at $7,712,257 in the last 90 days. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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