Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 210 ($2.54) to GBX 230 ($2.78) and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 1st. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 245 ($2.96) to GBX 240 ($2.90) and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 190 ($2.30) to GBX 200 ($2.42) in a research note on Wednesday, September 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Barclays by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,738,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,333,000 after purchasing an additional 146,541 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Barclays by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,520,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,315,000 after buying an additional 412,160 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Barclays by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,687,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,222,000 after buying an additional 1,356,948 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Barclays by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,218,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,329,000 after buying an additional 1,106,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in Barclays by 231.7% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 4,068,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,924,000 after buying an additional 2,842,349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.47% of the company's stock.

Barclays Trading Down 1.2 %

Barclays (NYSE:BCS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $8.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.77 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 21.25%. On average, equities analysts expect that Barclays will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.2094 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 11th. Barclays's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.07%.

Barclays Company Profile

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Barclays PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International divisions. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.

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