First Business Financial Services Inc. Acquires 2,638 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,999 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $2,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 70.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,628 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 5,760,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716,844 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on C. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $72.97 on Thursday. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.