How to Buy Barclays Shares UK

How to Buy Barclays Shares: A Quick Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Select a Trading Platform

The first step to buying shares is to pick a trading platform. Trading platforms are typically apps, desktop sites and/or regulated brokerages. Platforms will let you buy and sell stock.

Step 2: Register for An Account

The next step to buying shares is to register/open a trading account with the trading platform of your choice. Opening a trading account will require some personal details, such as NI Number, ID and bank details.

Step 3: Research Barclays Shares

It is wise to research the latest Barclays shares information to know what may or may not happen if you decide to purchase shares. Buying shares is a risk and can have adverse financial effects.

Step 4: Deposit Funds into the New Account

If you are sure about buying shares in Barclays, you will need to deposit funds into the account to make that purchase. Different trading platforms will offer various payment methods.

Step 5: Find Barclays

After you have made an account, you will need to search for Barclays shares. In the United Kingdom, the Barclays ticker code is BARC. This ticker can be used to search for Barclays shares for quick and easy access.

Step 6: Ready to Buy Barclays Shares?

If you feel ready to do so, you should now be set up to buy Barclays shares.

A Short History of Barclays Bank plc

Barclays Bank is one of the biggest banks in the UK registered in England, offering financial and banking services. Barclays provides a series of banking options, including retail banking, private banking, investment banking, commercial banking, wholesale banking, and wealth management services.

Barclays has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has tradable components in the FTSE 100. Barclays’ ticker code at the LSE is BARC.

Barclays is also traded on the New York Stock Exchange, where it has a secondary listing under the ticker BCS.

The current group chief executive (CEO) of Barclays is Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan, who recently replaced former CEO Jes Staley in November 2021. Nigel Higgins is the current Group Chairman at Barclays.

The Barclays head office is located in London. Barclays Bank plc is authorised and regulated on the Financial Services Register. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) operates the register and authorises and regulates the activities of firms and individuals.

Things to Consider Before You Buy Barclays Shares

Here are some things you might want to consider before you buy shares in Barclays.

Do Your Research

One of the best things to do before you decide to buy shares in Barclays is to research the bank and Barclays stock before making any financial commitments. Buying stock and shares in Barclays will come at your own risk.

Share prices are likely to change very regularly, and there is no sure-fire way of telling where the market value of Barclays shares will go. Researching will also help you to get an idea of the past performance of Barclay’s share price. Share prices are always likely to fall as well as rise, and one can never know for sure where a stock price may end up.

There is no way of telling for sure the future results of your investments and where the value and price of stocks may end up, but doing research can help you make more informed decisions.

Does Buying Barclays Shares Fit your Portfolio?

If you already have an investment portfolio, it might be best to consider how investing in Barclays stock could impact it. Before jumping straight into buying shares, assess the ways in which they may or may not affect your portfolio.

There is no telling whether an investment will be good or bad for your portfolio, but you can certainly check how it will match up with your other investments if you have them.

Can You Buy Shares in Barclays Bank?

If you are interested in buying shares in Barclays, there are a number of ways Barclays shares can be purchased.

How to Open an Account

In order to buy shares in Barclays bank, you will need to set up an account. This can be with a chosen platform, brokerage or your own investment account with a bank. You can see a selection of the investment accounts available from Barclays right here.

Setting up an account will require some personal details but can still take just a few minutes. New accounts will typically need a full name, home address and a National Insurance Number. You will also need to provide a form of identification to complete an identity check. This could be an ID such as a driver’s license, passport or even a utility bill.

How to Trade

In order to buy and sell shares, you will need to deposit funds into the new account. This can be done through a number of payment options but does sometimes depend on the platform or account being used.

Typically, funds can be deposited into an account via a debit card or bank transfer. Some platforms may accept PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and other eWallet services, but this will vary.

Some platforms may charge additional fees for making deposits. It is wise only to deposit the amount you wish to spend on a trade.

You should research the stocks you are interested in and see how much they are trading for. You can search for them very easily through most platforms, and all properly registered companies will have a ticker code.

Once you know how much you are likely to spend on a trade, deposit that amount into the account. Simply leaving any unused deposited funds idle means it is highly unlikely that you will gain interest.

How to Sell Barclays Shares

In order to sell Barclays shares, you will need to access the shares you already own in your account and sell them on through your chosen platform. Selling shares is just as important and complex as buying shares.

The first thing to do to sell Barclays shares is to log in to your account where you conduct share dealing. Be aware that you will need to own Barclays shares to sell them.

Locate the Barclays shares in your account. Then find the ‘sell’ option. If you have multiple shares in your account, you should be able to select how many shares you want to sell. Once that is decided, and you are sure that you want to sell the shares, you will need to hit confirm and verify the sale.

Be sure to check the market and the share price before making a sale.

Are Barclays Shares Good to Buy?

Knowing whether Barclays shares are good to buy or not really comes down to the individual as well as how the market is looking or forecast to look. To identify whether Barclays shares are good to buy, I make sure that I set out my investment objectives and my financial aims.

I always try to work out how a potential investment is going to impact my existing portfolio. If you are someone who has yet to start a portfolio or this is your first time buying shares, then you need to be honest with yourself and question whether you are ready to take on the responsibility of managing your own portfolio.

How does Barclays Share Purchase Work?

Making an investment by buying shares in Barclays can be pretty daunting at first. To those of you who have very little to no financial experience, I would recommend seriously considering whether investing in Barclays is the right thing for you. I would also recommend seeking personal advice from a professional and/or financial specialist.

There is always going to be risk involved if you are looking to invest. But it is always good to be prepared if you are thinking about investing.

The way Barclay’s share purchases work is by owning stock in the company. Owning stock then means a partial ownership in that company.

Owning a stock will mean that shareholders have part of the firm, corporation or company equal to the proportion or number of the outstanding shares of that company. A company will usually offer investors the chance to buy shares in their company to raise their capital.

How do I Buy Shares Directly?

It is now possible to buy shares directly with Barclays plc. Information about how the Barclays share purchase works can be found via the official Barclays website by simply finding the ‘smart investors’ page.

Barclays also offers their customers a range of resources to help them research the necessary information they need if they are looking to invest. There is also a very handy official Barclays plc share price page and share price calculator. You can see the latest information by viewing a share price chart.

Barclays will have a number of different investment accounts to choose from. Barclays plc does not offer their own financial advice or personal advice services for investments, and they encourage prospective customers to seek out independent advice before investing.

Barclays Investment Account

Investors looking to open an Investment Account with Barclays can do so by applying for one on the official Barclays plc website.

The Barclays Investment Account allows customers to purchase shares, funds and stocks without an annual limit. Some other accounts may have limited, like ISAs. An Investment Account at Barclays is flexible and provides access to a whole host of opportunities.

There are fees attached to a Barclays Investment Account. There is a Customer Fee charged on a monthly basis which covers the running of the account. This fee includes the transfer of investments as well as reinvesting dividends. Fees also apply every time you buy and sell. Investment Accounts, including General Investment Accounts, are subject to tax.

Individual Savings Accounts

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are one of the most tax-efficient accounts for making an investment. ISAs are usually associated with holding cash, but they can also be used to hold other funds and even shares.

ISAs give you the chance to invest in a variety of shares, stock, and other assets. The Barclays ISA operates as a Fund, meaning a professional fund manager will take control and monitor the market. There are a number of funds to pick from.

Is Barclays Overvalued or Undervalued?

Knowing the value of a share/stock’s value will always be hard. Investors can check the latest forecasts, but no one can ever truly know the future prospects of a share.

Barclays plc shares will range in volatility. At the moment, it is reported that the volatility of Barclays shares is a little above average, meaning there is a higher risk attached. It could be an option to compare the volatility of Barclays plc shares with the London Stock Exchange average as well as companies that offer similar services.

To know whether a share is either overvalued or undervalued, you will need to calculate the ‘price to earnings’ ratio, also called a P/E Ratio. The P/E Ratio is essentially how much an investor will need to spend on a share or shares to make a profit.

To calculate the P/E Ratio, take the market value of each share and divide it by the earnings per share. To calculate the earnings per share (EPS), the company profit is divided by the number of shares left outstanding. The Barclays P/E Ratio can then be compared with similar companies and competitors to know whether the ratio is high or low.

Dividend Yield and Dividend Payments

To better understand Barclays plc and whether their stock is overvalued or undervalued, you should check out the relative dividend yield. This will help you figure out what the dividend yield on the shares will be in comparison with the London Stock Exchange index.

Figuring out the dividend yield is easy. You simply take Barclays dividend yield and divide it with the yield average listed on the London Stock Exchange. If this produces a lower number, then it might mean that the shares are overvalued.

FAQs About Buying Barclays Shares

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