Truist Financial Corp Grows Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 767,369 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 91,075 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.57% of H&R Block worth $42,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRB. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1,552.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 129.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE HRB traded up $1.18 on Thursday, reaching $56.79. 1,920,718 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,399,222. The firm has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.56. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.16 and a fifty-two week 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 36.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.