Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,112,365 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,914,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,112,365 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.05% of Citigroup worth $1,401,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth $1,935,599,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,231,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.29.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $70.48 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $132.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.66 and its 200 day moving average is $71.00. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during 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%. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.