Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 5,014 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 90% compared to the typical volume of 2,641 call options.

Barclays Price Performance

Shares of BCS stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.13. 1,841,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,236,976. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.76. Barclays has a 52-week low of $19.28 and a 52-week high of $28.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.46 and a 200 day moving average of $24.89. The company has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.00.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.78 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 22.27%. Research analysts anticipate that Barclays will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a yield of 224.0%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.39%.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCS. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Barclays by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Barclays by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,691,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,918,000 after purchasing an additional 199,130 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,248,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barclays by 793.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,073,000 after purchasing an additional 4,242,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Barclays during the first quarter worth $81,762,000. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BCS. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Barclays from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Barclays from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.