Blue Whale Capital LLP Decreases Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Blue Whale Capital LLP lowered its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 31.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 511,482 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231,018 shares during the period. H&R Block comprises 2.5% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $32,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 606.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of HRB opened at $58.30 on Monday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.28 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.05) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block 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.