William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 75,493 Barclays PLC $BCS

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 75,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Barclays by 4.4% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 3.4% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 21,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 24,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BCS. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Barclays Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE BCS opened at $23.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. Barclays PLC has a 12 month low of $12.14 and a 12 month high of $27.70.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 21.91%.The company had revenue of $72.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. On average, analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.3069 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.