QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Barclays PLC $BCS

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 588,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,176 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Barclays were worth $10,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in Barclays during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in Barclays during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BCS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Barclays Price Performance

BCS opened at $20.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.70, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Barclays PLC has a 1 year low of $11.94 and a 1 year high of $21.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.12. Barclays had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $9.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.1557 per share. This represents a yield of 210.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Barclays’s payout ratio is 14.75%.

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.