Columbus Macro LLC Increases Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,128 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,530 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 2.0% during the third 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. increased its holdings 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 9.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,120 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.3% during 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 worth $670,021,000 after purchasing an additional 240,628 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Down 2.3 %

C stock opened at $79.59 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.85 and its 200 day moving average is $66.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.24 and a 1-year high of $82.77. The stock has a market cap of $150.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

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.