Barclays (LON:BARC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 309.10 ($3.88) and last traded at GBX 309 ($3.88), with a volume of 129338336 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 306.45 ($3.85).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BARC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Barclays from GBX 350 ($4.40) to GBX 360 ($4.52) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 294 ($3.69).

Barclays Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 277.64 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 249.95. The firm has a market cap of £41.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36.

Barclays (LON:BARC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported GBX 36 ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Barclays had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 6.97%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barclays PLC will post 39.1062802 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Barclays news, insider Anna Cross sold 40,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 270 ($3.39), for a total value of £108,531.90 ($136,398.01). 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.