Trade Alert: Group Finance Director & Executive Director Of Barclays Angela Cross Has Sold Stock

Some Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Group Finance Director & Executive Director, Angela Cross, recently sold a substantial UK£2.8m worth of stock at a price of UK£3.73 per share. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 52% of their entire holding.

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Barclays Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Angela Cross is the biggest insider sale of Barclays shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of UK£3.74, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was 52% of Angela Cross's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 308.79k shares worth UK£710k. But they sold 1.19m shares for UK£3.9m. In total, Barclays insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

See our latest analysis for Barclays

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Insider Ownership Of Barclays

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 0.06% of Barclays shares, worth about UK£33m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Barclays Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that Barclays is growing earnings. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Barclays. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Barclays that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.