Sapient Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $159,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 147.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,264,134 shares during the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barclays by 19.5% during the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 4,042,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,492,000 after buying an additional 658,639 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 16.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 2,520,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,638,000 after buying an additional 360,390 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Barclays during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,416,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC bought a new position in Barclays in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,063,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barclays Trading Up 0.9 %

BCS opened at $10.72 on Thursday. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of $6.23 and a 52 week high of $10.73. The company has a market capitalization of $40.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.38 billion. Analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.2671 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. Barclays’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.00.

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.