1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Has $286,000 Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 46.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,921 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HRB. Eastern Bank bought a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in H&R Block by 606.1% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2,756.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $60.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.20 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.30.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HRB. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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.