Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Shares Bought by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 116.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,222 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Henry James International Management Inc. acquired a new position in Barclays during the 4th quarter worth approximately $438,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,514,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $599,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 3,073.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,052,000 after acquiring an additional 667,687 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,647,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Price Performance

BCS stock opened at $15.93 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $16.33. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.33. The firm has a market cap of $57.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.2737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BCS. BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.