Barrett Business Services Executive VP James Potts Sells 39% Of Holding

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Some Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Executive VP, James Potts, recently sold a substantial US$964k worth of stock at a price of US$46.70 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 39%, which is notable but not too bad.

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Barrett Business Services Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by James Potts was the biggest sale of Barrett Business Services shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$46.37. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 10.64k shares for US$444k. On the other hand they divested 52.72k shares, for US$2.2m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Barrett Business Services than they bought, over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Barrett Business Services

I will like Barrett Business Services better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Barrett Business Services insiders own about US$44m worth of shares. That equates to 3.7% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Barrett Business Services Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Barrett Business Services is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Barrett Business Services makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Barrett Business Services (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

Of course Barrett Business Services may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.