Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 106,685 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 47.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,502 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 106,685 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.24% of H&R Block worth $17,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,253,276 shares of the company's stock worth $753,143,000 after acquiring an additional 35,945 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,219,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,796,000 after purchasing an additional 282,633 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock worth $248,448,000 after purchasing an additional 523,353 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in H&R Block by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock worth $237,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,319 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in H&R Block by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company's stock worth $144,527,000 after purchasing an additional 476,892 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE HRB traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 83,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,282. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.58 and a 200 day moving average of $56.04. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $68.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. H&R Block's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

H&R Block 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.