Barclays PLC $BCS Stock Holdings Lowered by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its Barclays stake by 52.5% in the third quarter, selling 90,856 shares and retaining 82,326 shares valued at approximately $2.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Morgan Stanley and Bank of America downgraded Barclays, while the broader analyst consensus is “Hold,” with four Buy and six Hold ratings.
• Barclays shares opened at $22.30, down 3.5%, while the company’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.66 in EPS versus $0.67 expected and $9.85 billion in revenue versus $10.10 billion forecast.

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS - Free Report) by 52.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 90,856 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Barclays were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Barclays in the first quarter worth $81,762,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Barclays during the first quarter valued at $24,704,000. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in Barclays during the second quarter valued at $13,268,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays in the second quarter valued at $9,888,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Barclays by 2.3% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 199,130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Barclays from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Barclays from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America lowered Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Barclays Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:BCS opened at $22.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.89. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of $19.83 and a 52-week high of $28.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.89. The stock has a market cap of $74.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). Barclays had a net margin of 22.74% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $9.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.10 billion. Equities analysts predict that Barclays PLC will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC is a diversified financial services company headquartered in London, England. Through its banking and financial services businesses, the company serves individuals, businesses, institutions and governments in the United Kingdom, the United States and other international markets.

Its principal activities include consumer and business banking, current and savings accounts, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards and payment services. Barclays also provides private banking and wealth management services, including investment management, financial planning and lending for high-net-worth clients.

Through its corporate and investment banking operations, Barclays offers corporate lending, transaction banking, financial advice, securities underwriting, sales and trading, research and capital-markets services.

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