Financial Counselors Inc. Lowers Stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,526 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Barclays by 1,934.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 168,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 159,996 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Barclays by 8.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,299,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,166,000 after buying an additional 175,029 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Barclays by 33.8% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 5,580 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Barclays by 1,026.8% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 265,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after buying an additional 242,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Barclays by 171.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 18,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of BCS opened at $9.18 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.72 and its 200 day moving average is $7.83. Barclays PLC has a fifty-two week low of $6.23 and a fifty-two week high of $9.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.80 billion, a PE ratio of 6.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.39). Barclays had a return on equity of 6.09% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.2671 per share. This represents a yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 37.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.00.

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.