South Dakota Investment Council Sells 9,450 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 378,283 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,450 shares during the period. Citigroup accounts for about 0.5% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $26,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of C. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE C opened at $79.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.56. The stock has a market cap of $150.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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.com, Citigroup presently 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.