Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Trims Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 99.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,013 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,787 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in H&R Block were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Boston Partners grew its stake in H&R Block by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,319 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,253,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,591,000 after purchasing an additional 695,581 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,448,000 after purchasing an additional 523,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in H&R Block by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,342,000 after purchasing an additional 429,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HRB shares. Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of HRB traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,709. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.16 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $57.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.55. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.24.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 15.20% and a negative return on equity of 179.57%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 844,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. The trade was a 5.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.