Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Stake Boosted by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 176,029 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,641 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $12,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of C. Core Alternative Capital raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter worth $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Citigroup by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 1.8 %

C stock opened at $71.81 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $135.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.46 and a 200-day moving average of $71.01.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued 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 company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.86.

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.