Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys Shares of 18,051 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 18,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 606.1% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HRB. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of HRB stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.28. 717,854 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,240. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $42.28 and a one year high of $68.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.05) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.59%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Profile

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.