Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Forecasted to Post FY2024 Earnings of $0.23 Per Share

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

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on SQ. BTIG Research raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.41.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $73.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 432.35, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.55. Block has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $157,021,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 485,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

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.