Mark Mason Sells 58,465 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Stock

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:C opened at $83.94 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $76.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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.