Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 136,803 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,966,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,803 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up about 2.3% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $208,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hills Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $107,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,000. LBP AM SA raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1,176.2% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 108,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,669,000 after buying an additional 100,416 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 7,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on C shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock 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 objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $68.84 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. 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 (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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.