Qsemble Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 9,289 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in H&R Block by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company's stock worth $313,735,000 after purchasing an additional 255,354 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company's stock worth $160,614,000 after buying an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company's stock worth $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,726,000 after buying an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company's stock worth $115,418,000 after acquiring an additional 606,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.75. The stock had a trading volume of 62,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,767. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.28 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

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

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.