Barclays (LON:BARC) Insider Nigel Higgins Purchases 6,769 Shares

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) insider Nigel Higgins acquired 6,769 shares of Barclays stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 481 per share, with a total value of £32,558.89.

Barclays Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of LON BARC opened at GBX 450.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of £62.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. Barclays PLC has a 12-month low of GBX 223.75 and a 12-month high of GBX 506.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of GBX 474.54 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 417.33.

Barclays (LON:BARC) last issued 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BARC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Barclays from GBX 435 to GBX 500 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Shore Capital Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 500 to GBX 570 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Barclays from GBX 480 to GBX 570 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 499.17.

Key Barclays News

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.