Man Group plc Sells 81,922 Shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Man Group plc cut its holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,052 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 81,922 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Robert Half were worth $2,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,554,276 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $602,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271,237 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 worth $569,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398,257 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,433,585 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $241,930,000 after purchasing an additional 148,577 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,217,999 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $226,740,000 after purchasing an additional 17,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,251,541 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $158,644,000 after purchasing an additional 300,524 shares in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Robert Half Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE RHI traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $46.53. 336,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,489,371. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.32. Robert Half Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.00 and a 12 month high of $78.41.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Robert Half had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 17.20%. The business's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Robert Half's payout ratio is 118.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Robert Half from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a 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 on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Robert Half from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Two 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.71.

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.