Natixis Advisors L.P. Cuts Holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Natixis Advisors L.P. decreased its holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) by 70.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 753,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,767,190 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.'s holdings in Barclays were worth $5,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 82.2% during the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 18,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 8,281 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 147.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,121,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,526,000 after buying an additional 1,264,134 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Barclays by 12.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,929,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,030,000 after acquiring an additional 220,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $190.00.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE:BCS traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.79. The stock had a trading volume of 12,062,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,766,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $40.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.43. Barclays PLC has a 12-month low of $6.23 and a 12-month high of $10.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.17.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.39). Barclays had a return on equity of 6.13% and a net margin of 17.21%. The business had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.38 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.2671 dividend. This is a positive change from Barclays's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Barclays's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.81%.

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.