Block (NYSE:XYZ) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Block (NYSE:XYZ) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 opened at $74.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $46.36 billion, a PE ratio of 42.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on XYZ shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Macquarie increased their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 242,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,057.48. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,247 shares of company stock worth $832,865 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.49% 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.