Neuberger Berman Group LLC Buys 195,825 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 51.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 579,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,825 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in Barclays were worth $7,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $59,373,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position 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 worth $47,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133,632 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 423.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,897,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,858 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,514,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Barclays by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 4,974,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,948 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BCS shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Barclays stock opened at $13.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.70 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.87. 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 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 firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.2737 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

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.