Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $0.23 Per Share, Seaport Res Ptn Forecasts

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for Block in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Cantwell now anticipates that the technology company will earn $0.23 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $0.25. Seaport Res Ptn has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Block’s current full-year earnings is $1.02 per share.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet raised shares of Block from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. BTIG Research raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.41.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $73.12 on Tuesday. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.75. The company has a market capitalization of $45.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 452.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $157,021,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 113.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,287,751 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,534,000 after buying an additional 1,748,508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

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.