Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $51.12 Million Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 967,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,973 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $51,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $169,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 8,036 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in H&R Block by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,179,000 after purchasing an additional 57,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HRB. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

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

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released 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 net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

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

H&R Block 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.