Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 40,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,954,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 1,200.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 650 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 68.3% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 998 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in H&R Block by 109.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in H&R Block by 129.6% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on HRB. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $46.86. 641,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,669. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $52.90. The company has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $47.71 and its 200-day moving average is $46.19.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. The business had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.37) earnings per share. H&R Block's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares in the company, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.