Equitable Trust Co. Sells 9,740 Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI)

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 27.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,740 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. owned about 0.10% of Barrett Business Services worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,110,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,682,000 after acquiring an additional 276,098 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.1% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 528,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,737,000 after acquiring an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 393,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,084,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares during the last quarter. 4D Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,430,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,849,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $569,196.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 209,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,930,490.16. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total transaction of $310,993.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 55,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,938.56. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,061 shares of company stock valued at $1,406,470 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BBSI shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI stock opened at $45.70 on Friday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.77 and a 1 year high of $46.07. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.41 and a 200 day moving average of $41.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.09. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 24.55%. The company had revenue of $292.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Barrett Business Services’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is currently 16.41%.

Barrett Business Services Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry.