Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 11,860 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 327% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,779 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Barclays from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Barclays from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Five investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Barclays by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 14,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Barclays by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Barclays by 2.6% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 22,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barclays Price Performance

BCS stock traded up $1.59 on Thursday, reaching $27.64. 3,242,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,684,071. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.30 and a 200-day moving average of $24.71. The firm has a market cap of $94.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. Barclays has a twelve month low of $18.79 and a twelve month high of $28.67.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.78 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 22.27%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barclays will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.3134 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 233.0%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.