New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires 411 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,556 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in H&R Block by 198.1% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 223,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,608,000 after purchasing an additional 148,274 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,500,000 after buying an additional 38,476 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,228,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in H&R Block by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 363,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,601,000 after acquiring an additional 69,846 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 14.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 514,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,162,000 after acquiring an additional 63,942 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HRB shares. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insider Activity

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

H&R Block Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HRB stock opened at $48.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $52.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.68.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.37) EPS. Analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

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.