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

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Barclays Stock Performance

BCS stock opened at $18.42 on Friday. Barclays has a 1-year low of $10.23 and a 1-year high of $18.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.80. The firm has a market cap of $65.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.10.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.37 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 13.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 784,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,089,000 after purchasing an additional 95,566 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Barclays by 1,539.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 4,234 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 579,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,708,000 after acquiring an additional 195,825 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 52.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 47,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,063,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,709,000 after buying an additional 391,899 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

About Barclays

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.