State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 30,431 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,431 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in H&R Block during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 4,152.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 2,756.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total value of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,860,656.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,902 shares of company stock worth $9,970,442. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $62.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.27.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block 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.