Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 370,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,951 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $26,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Core Alternative Capital lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on C. Truist Financial began coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $68.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.94. The company has a market capitalization of $129.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

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.