Robert Half Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:RHI)

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 2,974 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,264% compared to the typical volume of 218 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robert Half

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RHI. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Robert Half by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,079,597 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $569,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398,257 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,554,276 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $602,867,000 after buying an additional 1,271,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,257,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Robert Half by 5,172.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 693,394 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,857,000 after buying an additional 680,242 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 293.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 831,359 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $58,578,000 after buying an additional 619,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on RHI shares. StockNews.com cut Robert Half from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial raised Robert Half from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Robert Half from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $71.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Robert Half from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.92.

Robert Half Stock Down 2.0 %

RHI traded down $1.07 on Wednesday, reaching $53.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,485,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,381,046. The company has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 1.22. Robert Half has a fifty-two week low of $52.55 and a fifty-two week high of $81.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.23.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 17.20%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Robert Half will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Robert Half's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. Robert Half's payout ratio is 96.72%.

About Robert Half

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.