Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Has $11.93 Million Position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 897,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,756 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $11,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCS. BNP Paribas raised Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:BCS opened at $15.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. Barclays PLC has a twelve month low of $8.63 and a twelve month high of $16.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.25.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Equities research analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors 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 a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 28.80%.

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.