Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,256 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Core Alternative Capital grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.53.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $73.20 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.39 and a 200 day moving average of $70.55. The firm has a market cap of $137.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its 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. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.