Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 294,272 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,246,991 shares of the company’s stock after selling 294,272 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $298,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Citigroup by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 8,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Citigroup by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $82.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.24 and a 1-year high of $82.77.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on C. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

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.