LPL Financial LLC Acquires 8,598 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 8.7% in the first quarter, now owning 107,190 shares worth approximately $5.89 million.
• H&R Block recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, an increase from the previous $0.38, representing an annual yield of 3.3%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for H&R Block, with Northcoast Research downgrading to "neutral" and Barrington Research maintaining an "outperform" rating with a price target of $70.00.

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,190 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,598 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.08% of H&R Block worth $5,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter worth $230,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,532 shares of the company's stock worth $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 14,934 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 17.5% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,121 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 111.9% in the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 11,757 shares of the company's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 6,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter worth $650,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northcoast Research cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB opened at $51.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.44 and a 200 day moving average of $55.79. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.16 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 15.20% and a negative return on equity of 179.57%. The business's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

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.

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