Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 252,185 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 52.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 735,757 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 252,185 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.55% of H&R Block worth $40,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in H&R Block by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,104 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,968 shares of the company's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,263 shares of the company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,241 shares of the company's stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 6,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth about $818,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Northcoast Research cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $55.30. 1,121,242 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,326. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $58.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.55. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.16 and a 1-year high of $68.45.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 36.76%.

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.