Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 17,616 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 49.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,206 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,616 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of C. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $897,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $323,000. Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 200,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,139,000 after acquiring an additional 22,657 shares during the period. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on C. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the 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 directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of C stock opened at $70.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $132.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.60. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year 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 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 company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.