Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the third 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. boosted 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 grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after acquiring an additional 911,694 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 worth $670,021,000 after acquiring an additional 240,628 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup 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 value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C opened at $78.91 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.08. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The stock has a market cap of $149.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. 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 (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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on C shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

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.