Navellier & Associates Inc. Purchases 3,078 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,076 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of C. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after buying an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after buying an additional 911,694 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,347,000 after buying an additional 1,404,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,703,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,021,000 after buying an additional 240,628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the 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 owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $79.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $76.80 and its 200 day moving average is $68.56.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on C. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

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.