Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Makes New Investment in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in H&R Block by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $775,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.06. 234,864 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,097,213. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.83. 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 $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.37) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

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.