First Trust Advisors LP Takes $1.10 Million Position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 82,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Barclays by 135.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Barclays by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Barclays from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Barclays Price Performance

NYSE BCS traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $16.52. The stock had a trading volume of 15,504,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,496,132. The company has a market capitalization of $59.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.10. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of $10.17 and a 52-week high of $16.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.25 and a 200-day moving average of $14.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $10.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.37 billion. Equities analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.2737 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Barclays's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays's payout ratio is 27.92%.

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.