H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Acquired by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 49.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,882 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $86,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 32.0% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 112,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,925,000 after buying an additional 27,230 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 3.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 60,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 10.5% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 116,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 11,067 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,888,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,167,000 after buying an additional 26,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 12.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 2,424 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $46.94 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $52.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.91. The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued 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 net margin of 16.98% and a negative return on equity of 227.22%. The company had revenue of $179.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.37) EPS. H&R Block’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 35.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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 dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.