10,941 Shares in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Purchased by Natixis

Natixis purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 658 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HRB shares. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.62. 1,740,983 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,361,063. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $55.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.46 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.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 41.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the company'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 transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.