Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $23.30 and last traded at $23.2730, with a volume of 5418775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on BCS

Barclays Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.86. The firm has a market cap of $80.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. Barclays had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $9.21 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the first quarter valued at $1,515,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Barclays by 24.5% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 203,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 40,066 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays during the first quarter valued at $286,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Barclays in the 1st quarter valued at $192,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Barclays by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 123,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 13,030 shares in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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