Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Barclays by 7.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,244,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,803,000 after buying an additional 731,202 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 412,160 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Barclays by 22.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,555,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,525,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,068 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Barclays by 5.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,407,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,334,000 after purchasing an additional 210,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Barclays by 33,931.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 4,253,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,586,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241,401 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of BCS stock opened at $9.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $35.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.82, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.88. Barclays PLC has a fifty-two week low of $6.23 and a fifty-two week high of $9.98.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.38 billion. Barclays had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 6.09%. Analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.2671 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $190.00.

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.