Axa S.A. Has $1.79 Million Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

AXA S.A. grew its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 97.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,815 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,718 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HRB. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block 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 value of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRB traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $57.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,118,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,386,582. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $56.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.13. 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 has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. H&R Block's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. 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.