Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 634,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,828 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $44,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after buying an additional 913,231 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,900,000 after buying an additional 242,545 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on C. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE C opened at $81.98 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.24 and a 52 week high of $82.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $155.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results 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. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.