Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,787 shares of the company’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,844,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,539,000 after purchasing an additional 118,329 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,768,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,504 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,574,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,142,000 after acquiring an additional 14,268 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,133,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,851,000 after acquiring an additional 126,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 954,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,105,000 after acquiring an additional 65,478 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $46.68 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.73 and its 200 day moving average is $46.36. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $52.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.70.

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

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About H&R Block

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.