First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Grows Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,966 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in H&R Block by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in H&R Block by 145.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in H&R Block by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 41,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $1,228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of 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 price objective on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

H&R Block Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:HRB opened at $47.42 on Wednesday. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $52.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.82.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

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.