Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,473,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,129,222 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.80% of Citigroup worth $11,718,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 340.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% during 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 in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted 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. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 200,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,139,000 after purchasing an additional 22,657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on C shares. StockNews.com raised Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.53.

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction 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 owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

C opened at $71.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup 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.