Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $1.32 Million Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,200 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1,200.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HRB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HRB traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.50. 1,384,554 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 810,499. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.44. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $52.90. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $169.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.37) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total value of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.