Blue Trust Inc. Sells 5,886 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Blue Trust Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,886 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Barclays by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 46,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Certuity LLC raised its stake in Barclays by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 11,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its stake in Barclays by 6.9% in the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 17,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Stock Up 5.0 %

BCS stock opened at $15.63 on Wednesday. Barclays PLC has a fifty-two week low of $8.18 and a fifty-two week high of $15.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its 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 net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 6.30%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barclays PLC will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.2737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

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.