Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,946 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 1,200.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HRB. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $47.69 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.70. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $52.90.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $179.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.37) earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

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.