Investors Purchase Large Volume of Robert Half Put Options (NYSE:RHI)

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 2,974 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,264% compared to the typical daily volume of 218 put options.

Institutional Trading of Robert Half

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in Robert Half by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 30,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,157,000 after acquiring an additional 7,039 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Robert Half during the 4th quarter worth approximately $784,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Robert Half in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Robert Half in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Robert Half during the fourth quarter worth $15,636,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on RHI shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.92.

Robert Half Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:RHI traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $56.17. The company had a trading volume of 808,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,573. Robert Half has a 1-year low of $53.53 and a 1-year high of $81.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.32.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. On average, research analysts expect that Robert Half will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio is 96.72%.

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.