Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Shares Sold by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 58.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,692 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Citigroup by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,115,000 after acquiring an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 8.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 22,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $264,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 362,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 67,768 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in Citigroup by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 7,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Stock Down 3.5 %

Citigroup stock opened at $77.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.49. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $145.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. 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 (NYSE:C) last issued its 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 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%. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on C shares. StockNews.com upgraded Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

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.