William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for Block Earnings

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Block in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now anticipates that the technology company will earn $0.71 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.70. William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Block's current full-year earnings is $1.73 per share.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Block Price Performance

NYSE SQ traded down $4.09 on Friday, hitting $82.66. 8,213,757 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,297,611. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $51.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. Block has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

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