Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 169,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,836 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Barclays were worth $2,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barclays by 9.9% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 135,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 12,205 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Barclays by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $125,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the third quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Barclays by 981.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 277,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 251,613 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE BCS opened at $14.70 on Wednesday. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of $8.95 and a 52 week high of $16.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $15.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.91.

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

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.