Barclays Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 10,309 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 250% compared to the average daily volume of 2,945 call options.

Barclays Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:BCS traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $26.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,568,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,996,540. The company has a market capitalization of $89.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.01. Barclays has a 12 month low of $17.22 and a 12 month high of $27.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.09.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.88 billion. Barclays had a net margin of 21.10% and a return on equity of 8.12%. Equities analysts predict that Barclays will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BCS shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Barclays from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Barclays from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barclays has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 4.0% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 3,516,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,678,000 after purchasing an additional 134,560 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 39.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,841,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,065,000 after buying an additional 1,362,247 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Barclays by 6.1% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 2,239,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,281,000 after buying an additional 129,700 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 5.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 9,886,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,357,000 after buying an additional 549,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 124,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,180,000 after buying an additional 51,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Company Profile

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.