Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,505 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Robert Half were worth $8,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RHI. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $569,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398,257 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew 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 position in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,257,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 acquiring an additional 619,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Robert Half by 124.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 724,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,956,000 after acquiring an additional 401,369 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RHI has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. lowered their price target on shares of Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.92.

Robert Half Trading Up 11.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RHI opened at $51.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.13. Robert Half Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.97 and a twelve month high of $78.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.43.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 17.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio is 96.72%.

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.