Capital International Investors Purchases 2,704,783 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 148.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,524,890 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,704,783 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Citigroup were worth $318,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,935,599,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised 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 acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $198,231,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup 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 in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.8 %

C stock opened at $63.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.92. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $119.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.61.

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.