Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,735 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,735 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of H&R Block worth $5,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,614,000 after acquiring an additional 758,827 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 732,359 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

H&R Block Price Performance

H&R Block stock opened at $60.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.83. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The stock has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.49% and a negative return on equity of 220.05%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 34.32%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $639,990.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,626,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Company 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.