Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 114.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,052 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Barrett Business Services were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trigran Investments Inc. lifted its position in Barrett Business Services by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 648,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 249,052 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,534,000 after purchasing an additional 208,865 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,536,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $29,749,000 after purchasing an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 194.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 150,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 99,508 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BBSI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI opened at $39.04 on Monday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.11. The company has a market capitalization of $958.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total value of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,701,168.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $132,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,330. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,779 shares of company stock worth $786,233 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

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.