First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 741,385 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,972 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.55% of H&R Block worth $40,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 651 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 30.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 176,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.46, for a total value of $8,197,820.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 906,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,107,301.98. This trade represents a 16.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $41.88 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.62. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.17 and a 52-week high of $64.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.31.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($1.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.40) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $203.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.13 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 169.98% and a net margin of 16.24%.The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.17) EPS. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 37.75%.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.