Ion Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Block, Inc. $XYZ

Ion Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Block makes up about 1.0% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $9,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 3,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.41, for a total transaction of $225,422.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 231,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,664,323.42. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,720 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Block to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

Block Trading Down 0.2%

XYZ stock opened at $59.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.00 and its 200 day moving average is $67.23. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.27 and a 12 month high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Block Company 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.