State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Holdings in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 155.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.23% of Barrett Business Services worth $1,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 10.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $36.78 on Tuesday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $37.81. The company has a market capitalization of $962.42 million, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.01.

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

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBSI. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Sidoti downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, June 5th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total value of $1,201,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,501,132.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,357. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Barrett Business Services

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.