Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $28.59 and last traded at $28.59, with a volume of 199818 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Barclays from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barclays has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.00.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 21.10%.The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.88 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barclays PLC will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,248,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 793.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,073,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242,360 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Barclays in the 1st quarter worth about $81,762,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Barclays by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,722,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Barclays by 7,013.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,671,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,872 shares during the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.