Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,029 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,641 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $12,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in C. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% in 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 increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,014,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,112,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,826 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth $1,935,599,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after buying an additional 3,947,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE:C opened at $71.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.01. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $135.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on C. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America cut their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

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