Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $42.99 Million Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 782,948 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,766 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.58% of H&R Block worth $42,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,814,000 after buying an additional 1,660,319 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $57,253,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,591,000 after buying an additional 695,581 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,448,000 after purchasing an additional 523,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,342,000 after buying an additional 429,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HRB. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. 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, Northcoast Research cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $58.24 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $58.60 and a 200-day moving average of $55.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.25. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.78 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.76%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

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

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.