Dorsey Wright & Associates Sells 58,583 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Dorsey Wright & Associates cut its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 211,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 58,583 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Barclays were worth $2,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BCS. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE:BCS opened at $15.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $55.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38. Barclays PLC has a 1 year low of $8.95 and a 1 year high of $16.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.72.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 29.89%.

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.