New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,116,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,073 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Barclays were worth $14,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Barclays by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Barclays Stock Performance

Barclays stock opened at $15.17 on Monday. 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 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month high of $15.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.05. The company has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.41.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s payout ratio is 16.30%.

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.