California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 130,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,165 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $6,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $56.90 on Monday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.78 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $3,405,096.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,458,311.20. The trade was a 5.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HRB. Northcoast Research cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

H&R Block Company 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.