Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) by 87.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,871 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Robert Half were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Robert Half by 28.9% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,681,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,005 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Robert Half in the third quarter worth approximately $1,792,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Robert Half by 136.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 88,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,656,000 after acquiring an additional 50,995 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Robert Half by 828.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 463,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,249,000 after acquiring an additional 413,664 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Robert Half by 20.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 270,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,232,000 after acquiring an additional 46,100 shares during the period. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $76,729.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,248.50. This trade represents a 7.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Robert Half Stock Up 0.1 %

RHI opened at $70.85 on Tuesday. Robert Half Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $83.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.60. The firm has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86 and a beta of 1.24.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Robert Half had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 4.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Robert Half’s payout ratio is currently 77.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on RHI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Robert Half from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered Robert Half from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upgraded Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.33.

Robert Half 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.