Anand Selvakesari Sells 30,000 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Stock

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.59. The company had a trading volume of 16,709,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,816,831. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.95 and its 200-day moving average is $67.93. The company has a market capitalization of $159.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $115,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 25,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd increased its holdings in Citigroup by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 25,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,640 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in Citigroup by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,631,000 after buying an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 71,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,066,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.