Insider Selling: Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) EVP Sells $132,620.00 in Stock

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) EVP James Potts sold 3,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $132,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Barrett Business Services Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ BBSI opened at $37.24 on Friday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.33 and a 12 month high of $49.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.79. The stock has a market cap of $914.61 million, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.95.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $307.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.Barrett Business Services’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is 20.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,316,000. Trigran Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 648,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,491,000 after buying an additional 249,052 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,534,000 after buying an additional 208,865 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter worth $5,536,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,749,000 after buying an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BBSI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

About Barrett Business Services

Barrett Business Services, Inc (NASDAQ: BBSI) is a professional employer organization (PEO) headquartered in Northridge, California. Founded in 1971 by Barrett K. Levesque, the company provides comprehensive human resources outsourcing solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. Through its consultative model, Barrett Business Services helps clients streamline administrative processes, mitigate regulatory risk and focus on core operations.

The company’s core offerings include payroll administration, employee benefits management, workers’ compensation and risk management services.