Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 2,190 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HRB. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 112,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,925,000 after purchasing an additional 27,230 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in H&R Block by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 60,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in H&R Block by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 116,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,134,000 after acquiring an additional 11,067 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in H&R Block by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,888,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,167,000 after acquiring an additional 26,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in H&R Block by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares in the company, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.9 %

HRB traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $49.11. 1,051,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,131,825. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.70. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $52.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.44.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. The company had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.37) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

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.