Vest Financial LLC Acquires New Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 27,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,531,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 9,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 107,926.7% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 16,204 shares of the company's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 16,189 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 12,484.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 82,804 shares of the company's stock worth $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 82,146 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $251,000. Finally, Invst LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 18,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of 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 note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity

In other H&R Block 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 stock was 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 now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $58.24 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $48.78 and a one year high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company's fifty day moving average is $58.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, 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 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 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The business 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 firm earned $4.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

About H&R Block

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.

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