GSA Capital Partners LLP Purchases Shares of 18,230 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,159,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in H&R Block by 30.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,614,000 after buying an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,726,000 after acquiring an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of HRB traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,304,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,172,374. The stock's 50 day moving average is $61.74 and its 200 day moving average is $57.36. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.28 and a 1 year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on HRB shares. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

About H&R Block

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.