Ascent Group LLC Raises Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,451 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after buying an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in H&R Block by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,469,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,463,000 after acquiring an additional 79,759 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,605,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,133,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,851,000 after acquiring an additional 126,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 4.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 817,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,153,000 after purchasing an additional 35,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total transaction of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,860,656.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on HRB. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barrington Research boosted their target price on H&R Block from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th.

H&R Block Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HRB traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, hitting $57.99. The company had a trading volume of 81,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,733. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.23 and a 1 year high of $58.28.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.28. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.87% and a negative return on equity of 224.81%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.20 earnings per share. H&R Block’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 29.29%.

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.