H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Purchased by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 113.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,614 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,571 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in H&R Block by 1.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.6% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.9% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $42.28 and a one year high of $68.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.89.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.05) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.