Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 16,335 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 55.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,699 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,335 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRB. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in H&R Block by 110.5% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,768,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,504 shares during the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,438,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,007,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,394,000 after acquiring an additional 188,023 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al increased its stake in H&R Block by 1,134.3% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 170,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after purchasing an additional 157,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in H&R Block by 198.1% in the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 223,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,608,000 after purchasing an additional 148,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

H&R Block Stock Up 0.8 %

H&R Block stock opened at $47.65 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.72 and a 200-day moving average of $46.35. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $52.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $179.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.37) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.