Ieq Capital LLC Increases Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 100.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 78,724 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $11,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after purchasing an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,120 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 2.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,703,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,021,000 after purchasing an additional 240,628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on C shares. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

C opened at $83.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $158.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. 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 twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.23.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.