Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 52.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,764 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after acquiring an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 240,628 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of C opened at $82.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.02. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.24 and a twelve month high of $82.77.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.