Chase Investment Counsel Corp Buys New Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake 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 SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in H&R Block by 198.1% in the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 223,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,608,000 after acquiring an additional 148,274 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,500,000 after buying an additional 38,476 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,228,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 514,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,162,000 after acquiring an additional 63,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HRB traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.20. The company had a trading volume of 196,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,058,722. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $52.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.44.

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 company had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.37) earnings per share. The company’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 fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. 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.