Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,244 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,072 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $8,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after purchasing an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after buying an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,014,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,112,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,826 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,120 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,703,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,021,000 after buying an additional 240,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Citigroup stock opened at $74.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.42. The company has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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. This trade represents 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 three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.