Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,635,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 505,351 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $74,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at $59,373,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays in the third quarter worth about $52,335,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,514,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Barclays by 39.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of BCS opened at $16.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.62. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of $8.95 and a 52-week high of $16.33.

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

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BCS shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.