Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 108,223 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Brandes Investment Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,264,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 108,223 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Barclays were worth $16,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 11.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,432,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,149,000 after purchasing an additional 667,498 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $59,373,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,335,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 286.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,565,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,315,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641,608 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 3,484,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,315,000 after acquiring an additional 18,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of Barclays stock opened at $15.71 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a 1 year low of $8.95 and a 1 year high of $16.33. The firm has a market cap of $56.62 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.43.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.2737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 28.80%.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.