Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 4,987 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 29.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,985 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,987 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 1,552.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in H&R Block by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This trade 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 link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on HRB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. 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 boosted their price objective on H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB traded up $1.06 on Thursday, hitting $56.01. 1,215,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,268. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.79. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.16 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.25.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

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.