Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 4,973 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 967,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,973 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.71% of H&R Block worth $51,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 58,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after buying an additional 12,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,219,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,796,000 after acquiring an additional 282,633 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $10,725,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 620.0% in the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 29,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 25,166 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $60.85 on Wednesday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.65 and its 200-day moving average is $56.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 41.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.