Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. sold 274,228 shares of Robert Half Inc., reducing its holdings by 3.4% to 7,805,369 shares, which accounts for approximately 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Robert Half, with JPMorgan Chase reducing it from $47 to $45 and BNP Paribas downgrading their rating from "outperform" to "neutral."
• Robert Half announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, representing an annual yield of 5.97%, although its dividend payout ratio is currently high at 134.86%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,805,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 274,228 shares during the period. Robert Half comprises 2.1% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 7.65% of Robert Half worth $425,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Robert Half by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,217,999 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $226,740,000 after purchasing an additional 17,338 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its holdings in Robert Half by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,251,541 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,644,000 after purchasing an additional 300,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Robert Half by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,109,561 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $148,677,000 after purchasing an additional 53,294 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Robert Half by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,975,037 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $139,161,000 after acquiring an additional 36,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Robert Half by 29.2% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,318,708 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $71,936,000 after acquiring an additional 298,368 shares during the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Robert Half Price Performance

Robert Half stock traded down $1.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.39. 1,228,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,697,290. Robert Half Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.22 and a 52-week high of $78.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.45.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Robert Half had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 3.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Robert Half from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial set a $55.00 price target on Robert Half and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Robert Half from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.83.

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.