H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Bought by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310,567 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.22% of H&R Block worth $16,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRB. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised 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 valued at $160,614,000 after buying an additional 758,827 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in H&R Block by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after acquiring an additional 558,076 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 576.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,496,000 after acquiring an additional 494,457 shares during the period. Finally, Prevatt Capital Ltd acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,413,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $38,860,656.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,902 shares of company stock worth $9,970,442 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HRB opened at $63.43 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.92. The company has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 34.32%.

About H&R Block

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.