Broker snap: Tradenext highlights buying opportunity at Barclays

Tradenext has recommended investors to pick up shares of banking giant Barclays at current levels, highlighting the company's M&A business and 'Transform Programme'.Ronnie Chopra, the Head of Strategy at Tradenext, noted the recent news that Barclays was advising Dish Network on its $22.5bn offer for Sprint Nextel and also Thermo Fisher Scientific on the $13.6bn acquisition of Life Technologies."This deal was widely ignored by the UK market yet these developments mean that Barclays is now the third-biggest bank for Mergers and Acquisitions globally," he said.Barclays' shares dipped below 290p on Friday morning after rising to an intraday high of 305p on Wednesday after its first-quarter results.Chopra said: "These were slightly below expectations with the write down from the 'Transform' project, but the investment arm performed well and with cost-cutting measures from 'Transform' ensuring a leaner more profitable operation, we expect these management changes and employment cost reductions to feed into the bottom line."He said that any weakness below 290p is a "genuine buying opportunity".The stock was down 1.67% at 288.8p by midday.BC