Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.80 and last traded at $25.7290, with a volume of 127915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Barclays Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.67. The firm has a market cap of $89.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.00.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $9.21 billion during the quarter. Barclays had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 8.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 1.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Barclays by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 105,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Barclays by 1.1% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 56,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barclays by 0.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 152,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.