William Blair Weighs in on Block’s FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:SQ)

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) – William Blair boosted their FY2025 EPS estimates for Block in a report released on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now anticipates that the technology company will post earnings per share of $2.85 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.84. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Block’s current full-year earnings is $1.73 per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SQ. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Macquarie increased their price target on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.77.

Block Price Performance

SQ opened at $82.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. Block has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $99.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. The trade was a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Block by 6.2% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,037,000 after buying an additional 14,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% 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.