Wharton Business Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Wharton Business Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter worth $4,607,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,115,000 after acquiring an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 6.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 33,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 23.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 210,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,027,000 after acquiring an additional 39,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 27,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 9,777 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 2.1 %

Citigroup stock opened at $79.65 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $150.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.65. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by 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.