Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Has $777,000 Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,057 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,003 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HRB. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 134,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,521,000 after purchasing an additional 8,526 shares in the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $737,000. BCS Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $584,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.7 %

HRB opened at $47.12 on Wednesday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $52.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.16. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. The business had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.37) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.