Key Points
- Insider purchase: Director Marc Moses bought 1,703 Barclays shares on Feb. 11 at GBX 481 each, a transaction of £8,191.43, signalling a personal stake in the stock.
- Board confidence and shareholder returns: Multiple directors also acquired shares under the firm's fee‑in‑stock policy, while Barclays continues buybacks, share cancellations and has pledged roughly £15bn in returns—moves that support the share price over time.
- Analyst sentiment: Coverage is broadly positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target of GBX 499, and several banks (including JPMorgan and Deutsche) raising targets to as high as GBX 570 amid recent upgrades.
Barclays PLC (LON:BARC - Get Free Report) insider Marc Moses purchased 1,703 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 481 per share, for a total transaction of £8,191.43.
Barclays Stock Down 2.9%
LON:BARC opened at GBX 450.09 on Friday. Barclays PLC has a twelve month low of GBX 223.75 and a twelve month high of GBX 506.40. The stock has a market cap of £62.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 474.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 417.33.
Barclays (LON:BARC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 8.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Barclays had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 6.97%. On average, analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Trending Headlines about 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
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BARC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Barclays from GBX 500 to GBX 570 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Shore Capital Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Barclays from GBX 440 to GBX 475 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Barclays from GBX 435 to GBX 500 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Barclays from GBX 480 to GBX 570 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barclays currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 499.17.
View Our Latest Report on Barclays
Barclays Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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