Here’s Why These 5 Banking Stocks Are Trending

Of the 766 elite funds that we track, 110 funds owned $5.52 billion worth of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), which accounted for 4.00% of the stock’s float on March 31. The 110 funds make Bank of America the smart money’s favorite banking stock out of the five covered in this article. Following Bank of America is Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), with 101 funds holding shares of the company at the end of March. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is third with 69 elite funds reporting long positions in the bank as of the end of the first quarter. Morgan Stanley rounds out the four banks mentioned in the Barron’s piece, as 52 elite funds reported being long the stock as of the most recent 13F reporting period.

Ex-Barclays Traders Found Guilty

Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) is in the news after a jury found three ex-Barclays traders: Jonathan Mathew, Jay Merchant, and Alex Pabon, guilty of manipulating the Libor rate. Along with the Federal Funds rate, the Libor rate is one of the most important rates in the world. Small moves in the rate can raise the price of mortgages, financial product yields, and other securities, which can negatively affect many income-sensitive and financially-strapped investors. Given that Barclays has paid hundreds of million of dollars in penalties for its role in fixing the rate, it is safe to say that other traders will likely avoid attempting to manipulate the rate going forward. Shares of Barclays are off by 4% today, mainly due to renewed Brexit concerns. 12 top funds in our database owned shares of Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) at the end of March, unchanged from the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None