Block (NYSE:XYZ) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Block (NYSE:XYZ) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11), Zacks reports. Block had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 5.24%.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XYZ traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $83.07. The company had a trading volume of 11,976,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,623. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Saturday, February 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.83.

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.