Capital Research Global Investors Sells 196,158 Shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Capital Research Global Investors lowered its position in shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,802,685 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 196,158 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned 3.68% of Robert Half worth $267,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Robert Half by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,079,597 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $569,288,000 after buying an additional 3,398,257 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Robert Half during the fourth quarter worth $60,257,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Robert Half by 293.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 831,359 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,578,000 after acquiring an additional 619,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Robert Half by 124.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 724,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,956,000 after acquiring an additional 401,369 shares during the period. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on RHI shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Robert Half from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $71.50 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Robert Half from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Robert Half from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Robert Half from $80.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.07.

Robert Half Price Performance

NYSE:RHI traded down $1.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.82. 7,610,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,486,658. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.47 and a 200 day moving average of $64.21. Robert Half Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.65 and a 1-year high of $78.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37 and a beta of 1.13.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Robert Half's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Robert Half's payout ratio is currently 96.72%.

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.