24,347 Shares in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Bought by Farringdon Capital Ltd.

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 24,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BCS. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Barclays by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the third quarter worth approximately $120,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 981.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 277,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after acquiring an additional 251,613 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Barclays by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BCS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas raised Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Up 0.9 %

Barclays stock opened at $14.69 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a twelve month low of $9.26 and a twelve month high of $16.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.95.

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

Barclays Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

Barclays 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.