Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 514,593 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,799,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 514,593 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.30% of Barclays worth $143,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BCS. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Barclays in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Barclays during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 135.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Barclays Price Performance

NYSE:BCS traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.80. The stock had a trading volume of 7,192,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,493,418. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Barclays PLC has a one year low of $10.15 and a one year high of $16.34.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 20.81%. Research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.2737 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. Barclays's payout ratio is presently 29.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research 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.com, the stock 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.