Pinebridge Investments L.P. Purchases 11,604 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,130 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,604 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 658 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB traded up $1.79 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,456,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,369,634. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $46.46 and a one year high of $68.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $55.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.20.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 41.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.