Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,758 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HRB. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,998 shares of the company's stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in H&R Block by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 884,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,748,000 after acquiring an additional 107,450 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $362,000. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,124 shares of the company's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.96. The company had a trading volume of 755,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,599. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.02.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.76%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In related 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 stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $3,405,096.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Northcoast Research lowered H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

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.