Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

BCS has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Barclays in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Kepler Capital Markets initiated coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE BCS traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,732,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,340,019. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.73. Barclays has a 12 month low of $7.02 and a 12 month high of $13.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $8.52 billion for the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 17.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barclays will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in Barclays by 83.8% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 26,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 11,966 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $125,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 180,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 41,776 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Barclays by 4.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Barclays in the third quarter worth $52,335,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.