Barclays Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BCS)

Key Points

• Barclays saw unusual options activity on Monday, with traders buying 6,025 put options, about 127% above the stock’s typical volume of 2,653 puts.
• The stock fell 1.0% to $23.48, while trading volume was well below average. Barclays also remains in the middle of its recent range, with a 12-month low of $16.57 and high of $27.70.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, but the overall consensus is Hold. Recent earnings slightly beat EPS expectations, though revenue came in below forecasts.

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 6,025 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 127% compared to the typical volume of 2,653 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Barclays during the third quarter worth $2,195,000. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 4.0% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 3,516,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,678,000 after purchasing an additional 134,560 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Barclays by 10.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,830,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,833,000 after purchasing an additional 172,944 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 226.9% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 262,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,430,000 after acquiring an additional 182,318 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barclays by 39.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,841,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,247 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BCS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Barclays Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BCS traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,760,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,434,158. Barclays has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $27.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $22.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.56. The company has a market cap of $80.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Barclays had a net margin of 21.10% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.88 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.3069 per share. This represents a yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Barclays's payout ratio is 24.17%.

About Barclays

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.

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