D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 70,847 Shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 95.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,578 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 70,847 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Robert Half were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Robert Half by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,079,597 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $569,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,398,257 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,271,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,257,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Robert Half by 5,172.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 693,394 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,857,000 after purchasing an additional 680,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 293.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Robert Half Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Robert Half stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,110,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,358. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.92. Robert Half Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $78.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 1.06.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.19). Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Robert Half's payout ratio is presently 118.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RHI. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Robert Half from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Robert Half from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Robert Half from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.71.

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.