Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Cuts Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lessened its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 230,012 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,635 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.16% of H&R Block worth $14,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the first quarter worth $484,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 152.9% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 58,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 35,552 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 124.3% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 22,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 12,481 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 6,173 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.8 %

H&R Block stock traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.65. 1,228,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,154,987. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.20 and a 52-week high of $68.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $62.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. H&R Block's revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a positive change from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.55%.

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

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.