Sapient Capital LLC Invests $159,000 in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $159,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BCS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 139.3% in the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Price Performance

Barclays stock opened at $9.01 on Wednesday. Barclays PLC has a 12 month low of $6.23 and a 12 month high of $9.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.85. The company has a market cap of $34.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Barclays Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Barclays

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.