Royce & Associates LP Sells 10,000 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 164,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.12% of H&R Block worth $10,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HRB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company's stock worth $148,492,000 after acquiring an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in H&R Block by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,614,000 after purchasing an additional 758,827 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 1,630.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 732,359 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 606,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in 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 during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HRB stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.08. 1,304,453 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,207,109. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $61.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.50. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.28 and a twelve month high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.67. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $188.78 million. During the same period in the previous 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend 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%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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 restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value 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 46.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,414,430.60. This trade represents a 29.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. Company 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.