Insider Buying: Barclays (LON:BARC) Insider Purchases 1,891 Shares of Stock

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) insider Robert Berry acquired 1,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 481 per share, with a total value of £9,095.71.

Barclays Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of BARC traded down GBX 13.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching GBX 450.09. The stock had a trading volume of 61,232,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,317,766. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 474.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 416.71. Barclays PLC has a 12 month low of GBX 223.75 and a 12 month high of GBX 506.40. The company has a market capitalization of £62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36.

Barclays (LON:BARC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 8.60 EPS for the quarter. Barclays had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 6.97%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BARC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Barclays from GBX 455 to GBX 470 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Barclays from GBX 435 to GBX 500 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Shore Capital Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 440 to GBX 475 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Barclays from GBX 500 to GBX 570 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 499.17.

Barclays News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Barclays this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Barclays directors (including the chairman and several non-executives) acquired stock on Feb. 11 under the firm’s fee-in-stock policy — routine insider buying by board members can signal confidence and support sentiment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays has continued its buy-back programme and cancelled further shares, shrinking the free float — a smaller share base plus buybacks tends to be supportive for the share price over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management has pledged significant returns to shareholders (FT: Barclays vows to return ~£15bn after a profit boost), which supports dividend/buyback-driven valuation narratives. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly results: Barclays reported GBX 8.60 EPS for the quarter with a 19.5% net margin and 6.97% RoE — solid operating margins but ROE remains modest relative to peers; the print is neither clearly transformative nor alarmingly weak. (Company release summarized in filings/updates)
• Negative Sentiment: Press scrutiny around executive pay — FT reports bank bosses’ pay at highest levels in over a decade (Barclays CEO ~£15m) — could raise governance and reputational concerns for investors sensitive to remuneration and public perception. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Historic governance/legal headline: an FT report says an Epstein trustee document contradicts testimony by former Barclays boss Jes Staley — such legacy issues can weigh on sentiment and raise regulatory/PR risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Disclosures of share disposals by some senior executives were also reported — insider selling can be read as a mild negative or routine regulatory filings; weigh these against the board-level purchases. Article Title

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. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985.