Insider Buying: Barclays (LON:BARC) Insider Purchases £11,770.07 in Stock

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) insider Mary Francis bought 2,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 481 per share, with a total value of £11,770.07.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of LON:BARC opened at GBX 450.09 on Monday. The company has a market cap of £62.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. Barclays PLC has a 52 week low of GBX 223.75 and a 52 week high of GBX 506.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 474.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 417.97.

Barclays (LON:BARC) last announced 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 net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 6.97%. On average, equities analysts predict that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 earnings per share 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.