Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,000 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1,200.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3 %

HRB stock opened at $46.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.70 and a 200-day moving average of $46.44. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $52.90.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. The firm had revenue of $179.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.37) earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

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.