Robert Berry Buys 1,891 Shares of Barclays (LON:BARC) Stock

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) insider Robert Berry bought 1,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 481 per share, for a total transaction of £9,095.71.

Barclays Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of BARC stock traded down GBX 13.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting GBX 450.09. 61,232,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,317,766. The stock 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 474.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 416.71. Barclays PLC has a 52-week low of GBX 223.75 and a 52-week high of GBX 506.40.

Barclays (LON:BARC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 8.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.97% and a net margin of 19.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Barclays

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BARC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 480 to GBX 570 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Barclays from GBX 500 to GBX 570 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Barclays from GBX 435 to GBX 500 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 455 to GBX 470 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 499.17.

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. 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.