Raymond James & Associates Acquires 426,815 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,007,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 426,815 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.11% of Barclays worth $48,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Barclays by 7.7% during the second quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Barclays by 32.4% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barclays by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 61,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 333,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Barclays by 51.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Barclays Stock Performance

BCS stock opened at $12.76 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.26. Barclays PLC has a fifty-two week low of $6.23 and a fifty-two week high of $12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.42.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $7.98 billion during the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 16.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.2684 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from Barclays's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 3.6%. Barclays's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BCS. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Barclays from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

About Barclays

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.