Citigroup Inc. $C Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 315,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,578 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $36,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,048,467,000 after buying an additional 4,938,923 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,040,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,353,612,000 after buying an additional 879,056 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,870,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,336,362,000 after buying an additional 580,027 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 17.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,125,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,854,788,000 after buying an additional 4,211,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Citigroup in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $139.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $125.19 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.72 and its 200-day moving average is $114.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.65 and a 12-month high of $135.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup shareholders approved an expanded stock incentive plan at the company’s May 20 annual meeting, which should give management more flexibility to retain and motivate employees through equity compensation. Citigroup Shareholders Approve Expanded Stock Incentive Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces highlighted Citigroup as undervalued or attractive for income-focused investors, reinforcing the view that the stock still has room to rerate after recent earnings improvement. 5 Most Undervalued US Stocks According to Hedge Funds Why Citigroup (C) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup also remained active in market commentary on India IPOs and currency controls, but these reports are more about its broader banking views than a direct business update for the company. Citi sees India IPOs hitting fresh records despite challenges Citi Sees India IPOs Hitting Fresh Records Despite Challenges
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a report that Trump backed away from requiring banks to collect citizenship information, which slightly reduces regulatory overhang but does not materially change Citigroup’s near-term fundamentals. Trump backs down from idea of banks collecting citizenship information
• Negative Sentiment: On the other hand, Citi faced fresh governance scrutiny after a separate report said more shareholders voted against the bank’s say-on-pay proposal, signaling some dissatisfaction with executive compensation practices. More Citi shareholders vote ‘no’ on say-on-pay

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.