H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 32.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,248 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,447 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in H&R Block were worth $3,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in H&R Block by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,684,738 shares of the company's stock worth $89,022,000 after buying an additional 47,920 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth $2,080,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in H&R Block by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 111.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HRB shares. Northcoast Research cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barrington Research restated 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 0.4%

HRB traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $54.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,357,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,682. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.51. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.57% and a net margin of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $3,405,096.80. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.