Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $5.17 Million Stock Holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 388,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,648 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Barclays were worth $5,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Barclays during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Barclays by 135.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

Barclays stock opened at $12.77 on Tuesday. Barclays PLC has a 1-year low of $8.95 and a 1-year high of $16.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 6.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.85.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 20.81%. As a group, analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.2737 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is 29.89%.

About Barclays

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.