Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 65.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,594 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,047 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Robert Half were worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Robert Half by 17.5% in the 4th 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 period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $241,930,000 after buying an additional 148,577 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $226,740,000 after buying an additional 17,338 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $158,644,000 after buying an additional 300,524 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RHI. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Robert Half from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Robert Half from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Robert Half and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Robert Half from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.71.

Robert Half Stock Performance

NYSE:RHI opened at $43.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.06. Robert Half Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.87.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. Robert Half's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. Robert Half's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.00%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.