Insider Selling: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Insider Sells 15,125 Shares of Stock

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $81.32 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average is $76.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.32. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $153.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44.

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

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on C shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Company 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.