William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for Block Earnings

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) – William Blair boosted their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Block in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now forecasts that the technology company will post earnings per share of $2.85 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.84. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Block’s current full-year earnings is $1.73 per share.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SQ. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Block from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Block Stock Performance

SQ opened at $82.66 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $51.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.44, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. Block has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $99.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Block by 1.0% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 139,574 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Block by 32.4% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 37,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 9,142 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $443,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 1,307.8% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 7,520 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Block by 2.4% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 218,839 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,113,000 after acquiring an additional 5,038 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.