Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $13.85 and last traded at $13.84, with a volume of 1563931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BCS. StockNews.com cut Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Barclays Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.41.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.52 billion during the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 17.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new stake in Barclays during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Barclays by 32.4% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Barclays by 42.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.