Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 24,554 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,554 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRB. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,660,319 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $57,253,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock worth $136,591,000 after acquiring an additional 695,581 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock worth $248,448,000 after acquiring an additional 523,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company's stock worth $48,342,000 after acquiring an additional 429,101 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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 directly owned 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. The trade was a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HRB shares. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on 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, Northcoast Research downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:HRB traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,471,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,216. The stock has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $57.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.51. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.16 and a 52-week high of $68.45.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.