Mark Mason Sells 58,465 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Stock

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Citigroup Price Performance

C stock opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.19 and a 200-day moving average of $68.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on C. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Core Alternative Capital grew its position in Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.