J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 3,086 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,086 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Core Alternative Capital raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 184.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.19 and a 200-day moving average of $68.12. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $159.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Company 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.