Capital Research Global Investors Increases Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,504,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Citigroup were worth $246,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Core Alternative Capital raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:C opened at $63.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.98.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.61.

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.