Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 236,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,612,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,674 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Citigroup by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on C. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.23.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $58.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.95.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company 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.