New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 12,836 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,836 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $8,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HRB. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in H&R Block by 1,552.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 129.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Northcoast Research downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $56.08 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.53. The company has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.24. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.16 and a twelve month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.57% and a net margin of 15.20%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.