SG Americas Securities LLC Has $797,000 Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 140.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,514 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,482 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in H&R Block were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in H&R Block by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in H&R Block by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in H&R Block by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,170 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of H&R Block stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $55.30. 1,121,242 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,326. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.55. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.16 and a 1-year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.94 EPS. H&R Block's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

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 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 yield of 2.71%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.