Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $79.00. The stock had previously closed at $70.60, but opened at $67.91. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Robert Half shares last traded at $69.26, with a volume of 215,324 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on RHI. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Robert Half from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Robert Half news, EVP Robert W. Glass sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.46, for a total value of $603,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 186,062 shares in the company, valued at $14,970,548.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Robert Half

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Robert Half by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in Robert Half by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Inc. increased its holdings in Robert Half by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 7,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group increased its holdings in Robert Half by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 8,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Robert Half by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 420 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Robert Half Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.44.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Robert Half had a net margin of 6.43% and a return on equity of 25.73%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Robert Half Inc. will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Robert Half’s payout ratio is 54.78%.

Robert Half Company Profile

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.