American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 326,502 Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 155.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326,502 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.05% of Barrett Business Services worth $17,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 48.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth $551,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBSI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sidoti lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $37.16 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.96. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $37.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $972.37 million, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 4.50%. The business had revenue of $279.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Barrett Business Services’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.58%.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $1,201,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,501,132.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,357. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.