ABC Arbitrage SA Buys New Holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,618,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $21,514,000. Barclays makes up 3.1% of ABC Arbitrage SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 46,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 11,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 17,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Barclays Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCS traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.39. 6,706,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,097,021. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Barclays PLC has a twelve month low of $8.18 and a twelve month high of $15.65. The company has a market cap of $55.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.95.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.2737 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Barclays's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. Barclays's payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

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.