Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,960,000 shares, a drop of 29.1% from the May 15th total of 8,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.
Barclays Price Performance
NYSE:BCS opened at $7.97 on Thursday. Barclays has a 52 week low of $5.89 and a 52 week high of $9.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.00.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 20.97%. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barclays will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BCS. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised Barclays from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,424,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,243,000 after buying an additional 623,939 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 229,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,648,000 after buying an additional 25,268 shares during the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 115.6% in the 1st quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 90,434 shares during the last quarter. Colony Group LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 155,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 15,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 33,931.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 4,253,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,586,000 after buying an additional 4,241,401 shares during the last quarter. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Barclays
Barclays Plc operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management services. The firm operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International segments. The Barclays UK segment consists the U.K. retail banking operations, U.K.