Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

Several analysts recently weighed in on BCS shares. Zacks Research lowered Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Barclays from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Barclays from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCS opened at $27.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Barclays has a 1 year low of $18.33 and a 1 year high of $28.43.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 21.10%.The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.88 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Barclays will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722,757 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 5.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 9,886,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,357,000 after buying an additional 549,497 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Barclays by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,691,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,918,000 after buying an additional 199,130 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Barclays during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,248,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Barclays by 793.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,073,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.