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

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

Block Stock Performance

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,247 shares of company stock valued at $832,865 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XYZ. BNP Paribas cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Block in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.83.

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.