Birinyi Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Birinyi Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 103,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up about 2.0% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Core Alternative Capital lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $78.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.94. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 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 analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on C. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

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.