9,262 Shares in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Purchased by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. F M Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 32,082 shares of the company's stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 5,677 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in H&R Block by 620.0% in the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 29,225 shares of the company's stock worth $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 25,166 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 64,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,409,000 after acquiring an additional 20,460 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in H&R Block by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,170 shares of the company's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of H&R Block by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 13,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB traded up $0.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,141,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,751. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $45.87 and a one year high of $68.45. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. 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 the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

H&R Block 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.