Northern Trust Corp Purchases 191,595 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,345,222 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 191,595 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.71% of H&R Block worth $123,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,319 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth $57,253,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in H&R Block by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,448,000 after buying an additional 523,353 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth about $25,552,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company's stock worth $144,527,000 after acquiring an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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 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 directly owns 844,790 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE HRB opened at $62.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.15 and a 200 day simple moving average 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 twelve month low of $47.51 and a twelve month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. Research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.32%.

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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