Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 170,465 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Employees Retirement System of Texas decreased its stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 454,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 170,465 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Barclays were worth $60,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 667.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,603,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,632 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 30,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Barclays by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 182,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 9,911 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Barclays by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,063,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,709,000 after purchasing an additional 391,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at $370,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on BCS shares. StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Down 7.9 %

NYSE:BCS opened at $13.19 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $15.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.84. The company has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of $8.95 and a 52-week high of $16.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

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

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s payout ratio is 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.