Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Takes Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 23,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,814,000 after buying an additional 1,660,319 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,253,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in H&R Block by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,591,000 after acquiring an additional 695,581 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,448,000 after acquiring an additional 523,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,342,000 after acquiring an additional 429,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.7%

HRB traded down $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $55.38. The stock had a trading volume of 193,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,578. The business's 50-day moving average price is $57.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.51. The company has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.24. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.16 and a 12-month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. The firm 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 179.57% and a net margin of 15.20%. H&R Block's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.76%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About H&R Block

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.