Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Shares Purchased by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 86,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Barclays were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Naviter Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at $951,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,235,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Barclays by 116.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 56,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 30,222 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Barclays by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,373,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BCS. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of Barclays stock opened at $15.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Barclays PLC has a one year low of $8.94 and a one year high of $16.33. The company has a market cap of $54.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders 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 is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.80%.

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.