Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.00 and traded as high as $39.90. Barrett Business Services shares last traded at $39.79, with a volume of 142,792 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BBSI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Trading Down 0.1%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $976.01 million, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $307.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is presently 20.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total transaction of $454,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,701,168.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,779 shares of company stock worth $786,233. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 49,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Barrett Business Services by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 1.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.