Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 73,724 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 900,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,724 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Barclays were worth $11,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCS. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,432,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,149,000 after acquiring an additional 667,498 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays during the third quarter valued at $52,335,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 286.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,565,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,608 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Barclays in the 4th quarter worth about $21,514,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Barclays by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,116,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,841,000 after buying an additional 45,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Down 3.3 %

Barclays stock opened at $15.05 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.41. Barclays PLC has a twelve month low of $8.94 and a twelve month high of $16.33.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released 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 return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 20.81%. On average, analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BCS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas raised Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One 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, Barclays currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.