Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Short Interest Up 90.4% in December

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,490,000 shares, a growth of 90.4% from the November 30th total of 4,460,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Barclays by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 6,818 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Barclays by 10.3% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 66,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Barclays during the 2nd quarter worth $1,467,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Barclays during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC grew its position in shares of Barclays by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 76,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 7,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Price Performance

Barclays stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.28. The company had a trading volume of 18,529,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,148,655. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.17. The company has a market cap of $47.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03 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 has a fifty-two week low of $7.07 and a fifty-two week high of $13.83.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter. The company 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 last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Barclays will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BCS. Kepler Capital Markets began coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Barclays Company Profile

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.