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

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,674 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $9,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HRB. My Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $310,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in H&R Block in the second quarter valued at $401,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the second quarter valued at about $257,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the second quarter worth about $382,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 6.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 147,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,034,000 after buying an additional 8,791 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,180 shares of company stock worth $8,841,995 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE HRB opened at $63.35 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.70 and a 52-week high of $68.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly 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. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 224.81% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 34.32%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.