EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $270,000 Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,245 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 5.4% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in H&R Block by 1.9% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $55.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.66. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.28 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.31.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

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.