Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Forecasted to Earn FY2024 Earnings of $1.68 Per Share

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) – Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Block in a report released on Tuesday, September 3rd. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now anticipates that the technology company will post earnings per share of $1.68 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $1.67. William Blair currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Block’s current full-year earnings is $1.72 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on SQ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.52.

Block Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $64.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.49. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.76.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 1.3% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its position in Block by 7.2% during the first quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Block by 25.4% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 3.4% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 3.5% in the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.