H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 52,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,938 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HRB. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in H&R Block by 5.5% during the 4th 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 stake in H&R Block by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 58,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in H&R Block by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,219,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,796,000 after purchasing an additional 282,633 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $10,725,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in H&R Block by 620.0% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 29,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 25,166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other 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 value of $3,405,096.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE HRB opened at $56.74 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.23 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.09.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.94 earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

About H&R Block

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.