Gator Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Gator Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 537,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Barclays makes up 2.7% of Gator Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Barclays were worth $7,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 135.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Barclays has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of BCS stock opened at $13.19 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of $8.95 and a 52 week high of $16.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.83. The stock has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts predict that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.2737 dividend. This is an increase from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.89%.

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.