Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 40,437 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,437 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $4,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BCS. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Barclays in the 3rd quarter worth $52,335,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Barclays in the fourth quarter worth $21,514,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Barclays by 3,073.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 buying an additional 667,498 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Barclays by 1,571.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 470,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after purchasing an additional 442,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BCS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas raised Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCS opened at $16.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.67. Barclays PLC has a 12 month low of $8.95 and a 12 month high of $16.34. The stock has a market cap of $57.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.2737 dividend. 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. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.