Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 1,013 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the first quarter worth $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total transaction of $2,453,386.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barrington Research upped their target price on H&R Block from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE:HRB traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.24. 348,138 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,687. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.01 and a 12-month high of $57.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.28. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 224.81% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.29%.

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.