Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $32.35

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $32.35 and traded as high as $36.01. Barrett Business Services shares last traded at $35.12, with a volume of 156,018 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BBSI shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barrington Research upped their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sidoti cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $904.59 million, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50 day moving average is $34.72 and its 200 day moving average is $32.35.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 25.69%. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Barrett Business Services's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Barrett Business Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Barrett Business Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, Director Thomas B. Cusick sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total transaction of $79,230.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $864,663.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total value of $1,201,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 242,543 shares in the company, valued at $8,501,132.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas B. Cusick sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total transaction of $79,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $864,663.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,533 shares of company stock worth $1,310,587. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBSI. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 131.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,585 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 3,745 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,945 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,837,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,579 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,616 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Company 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.