Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 3,746,135 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,644,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,746,135 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Barclays were worth $327,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCS. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Barclays in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 3.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of BCS opened at $15.42 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of $8.95 and a 52-week high of $16.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s payout ratio is 29.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BCS. StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.