Man Group plc Grows Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Man Group plc increased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 140.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,619 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,359 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.05% of H&R Block worth $3,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth $362,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in H&R Block by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 107,075 shares of the company's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 66,780 shares of the company's stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com 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 issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $58.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $57.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

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 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 2.58%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 36.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was 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 now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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