Swiss National Bank Sells 2,200 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $17,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after acquiring an additional 939,270 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after buying an additional 732,359 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,418,000 after buying an additional 606,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 494,457 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

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 transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HRB opened at $58.29 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $42.28 and a one year high of $68.45. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.05) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

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.