H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in H&R Block by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 309,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,679,000 after buying an additional 151,978 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 15.0% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $590,000. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $995,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in H&R Block by 113.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HRB opened at $59.28 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.03. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.28 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.05) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HRB. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

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.