State of Wyoming Trims Holdings in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

State of Wyoming reduced its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Barrett Business Services were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BBSI. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the first quarter worth about $12,999,000. Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 104.0% in the 1st quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 58,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 29,600 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 71,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,117,000 after buying an additional 26,637 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 80.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 50,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 22,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth about $913,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BBSI. Wall Street Zen lowered Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Barrington Research raised their price target on Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $3,868,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 287,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,878,384. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas B. Cusick sold 3,064 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.64, for a total transaction of $145,968.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,248.64. The trade was a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,417 shares of company stock worth $5,496,361 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $48.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.43 and a fifty-two week high of $49.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.32.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business had revenue of $307.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.76%.

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.