Block (NYSE:SQ) Issues Earnings Results

Block (NYSE:SQ) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,898,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,386,237. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.21. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 271,394 shares in the company, valued at $18,066,698.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.