Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Director Sells $454,200.00 in Stock

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total value of $454,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,701,168.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Barrett Business Services stock opened at $37.24 on Friday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.33 and a 52 week high of $49.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $914.61 million, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average of $32.79.

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

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BBSI. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBSI. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,316,000. Trigran Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 249,052 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,534,000 after acquiring an additional 208,865 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,536,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,749,000 after acquiring an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

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.