Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys New Position in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 77,712 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,992,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,230,000. Eschler Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,028,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,939,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,291,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:XYZ opened at $83.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.09. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $86.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 149.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.53.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.54. Block had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.020 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.020-1.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYZ has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Block from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Block to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Block from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total transaction of $783,991.73. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,889,486.66. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $673,618.66. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 513,981 shares in the company, valued at $42,362,314.02. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,756 shares of company stock worth $39,582,259. 11.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Block

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.