H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,288 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $6,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in H&R Block by 1.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HRB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $47.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.52. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $52.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About H&R Block

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.