New York Life Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,264 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,026 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $19,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Alternative Capital increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Price Performance

Citigroup stock opened at $79.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $149.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.01.

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

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup 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.