Stamos Capital Partners L.P. Reduces Stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 170,230 shares during the period. Barclays accounts for 1.0% of Stamos Capital Partners L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $4,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BCS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barclays by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,635,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,901,000 after buying an additional 505,351 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Barclays by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 4,974,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409,948 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,373,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Barclays by 667.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,603,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,632 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $46,315,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Barclays stock opened at $13.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. Barclays PLC has a 12-month low of $8.95 and a 12-month high of $16.34. The company has a market cap of $50.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11.

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, 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 analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

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

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.