Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Purchases 5,721 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 64,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,721 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Barclays during the third quarter worth $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Barclays by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Barclays by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Barclays by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC grew its position in Barclays by 139.3% during the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Price Performance

NYSE:BCS opened at $9.01 on Wednesday. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of $6.23 and a 52 week high of $9.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.16 billion, a PE ratio of 6.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.85.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.39). Barclays had a return on equity of 6.09% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.2671 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $190.00.

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.