Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys 1,586 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 62.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,124 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in H&R Block by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% during the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1.6% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.9% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HRB shares. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Up 2.5 %

HRB stock opened at $58.29 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.28 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block 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.