Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Purchases New Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $933,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,372,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in H&R Block by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 46,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 884,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,748,000 after acquiring an additional 107,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Northcoast Research downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of HRB opened at $56.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.09. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.76%.

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.