Wall Street Zen Downgrades Barclays (NYSE:BCS) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Barclays (NYSE: BCS) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in investment sentiment.
• Multiple analysts have recently weighed in on Barclays, with Citigroup lowering its rating to "neutral" while other firms have maintained or upgraded their ratings, showing mixed opinions in the market.
• Barclays' stock price reached $20.98, with a strong performance in earnings as it reported $0.62 earnings per share, surpassing the expected $0.50.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

BCS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Barclays from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Barclays has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Barclays Price Performance

Shares of BCS stock traded up $0.35 on Friday, reaching $20.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,373,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,809,563. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $20.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.02. Barclays has a 1 year low of $11.94 and a 1 year high of $21.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.70. The company has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.10.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.12. Barclays had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The firm had revenue of $9.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.06 billion. Analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 1,703.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 246,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,786,000 after buying an additional 232,845 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Barclays in the first quarter valued at approximately $613,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 72.2% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Barclays by 67.0% in the 1st quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 74,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 29,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Barclays by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 55,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.

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