Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 293.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,981 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 658 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.00. The stock had a trading volume of 535,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,907. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. H&R Block's payout ratio is currently 41.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on HRB. Northcoast Research cut H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reiterated 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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.