Block (NYSE:SQ) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

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

Block Trading Up 0.8 %

Block stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.38. The stock had a trading volume of 17,898,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,386,237. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.26 billion, a PE ratio of 78.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.22.

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.