H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Position Lessened by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 172,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,787 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $10,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRB. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,614,000 after purchasing an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 732,359 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.3 %

HRB opened at $59.57 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.20 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.42.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.55%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HRB shares. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $583,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,430.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,414,430.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.