New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,534,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 164,283 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $248,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,607,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in Citigroup by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,115,000 after acquiring an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Integrity Financial Corp WA increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 8,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of C opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $159.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lowered 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.