Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases 15,489 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 170.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,580 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,489 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block by 606.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:HRB opened at $57.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.28 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average of $58.17.

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

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

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 dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.59%.

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.