Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 479,893 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,258,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 479,893 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 1.63% of H&R Block worth $143,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in H&R Block during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 606.1% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 4,152.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $56.54 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.28 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.41 and its 200 day moving average is $57.63.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.05) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.