Short Interest in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Grows By 23.6%

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,951,665 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the November 30th total of 7,241,499 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,047,429 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,047,429 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Barclays Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of BCS stock opened at $25.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.79. Barclays has a 12-month low of $12.14 and a 12-month high of $25.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The firm has a market cap of $88.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.98.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $9.21 billion for the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 21.26%. Equities analysts anticipate that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research cut Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barclays presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Barclays by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 86,027,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,778,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964,420 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barclays by 37.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,607,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,163,000 after buying an additional 9,188,263 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barclays by 5.9% in 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barclays by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,841,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Barclays by 793.5% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

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.