Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 29,988 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Barclays by 5.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,520,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,315,000 after buying an additional 412,160 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Barclays by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 5,834,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,511,000 after buying an additional 1,305,123 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Barclays by 31.3% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,687,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,222,000 after buying an additional 1,356,948 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Barclays by 2.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,722,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,224,000 after buying an additional 130,785 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Barclays by 268.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 3,822,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,465,000 after buying an additional 2,785,466 shares during the period. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.00.

Barclays Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE BCS opened at $8.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.37. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of $5.89 and a 52 week high of $9.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.72.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 20.04%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.104 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 23rd. This represents a yield of 6.4%. Barclays's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.41%.

Barclays Profile

(Get Rating)

Barclays Plc operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management services. The firm operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International segments. The Barclays UK segment consists the U.K. retail banking operations, U.K.

Featured Articles

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Barclays (BCS)
• How to Invest in the Top Grocery Stocks for This Year
• Array Technologies Brings Solar Flare To 2023 Earnings Forecast
• Best Bank Stocks to Invest in Ahead of Rising Interest Rates
• How to Invest in Farmland: 7 Simple Ways
• ExxonMobil Gushes To New Highs

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BCS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS – Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Barclays Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barclays and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.