Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P Cuts Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P cut its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 102,195 shares of the company’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Citigroup makes up 1.7% of Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew 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 worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 12,280 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 200,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,139,000 after purchasing an additional 22,657 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on C. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on 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 raised their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen 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 $83.53.

Citigroup Trading Down 1.8 %

Citigroup stock opened at $71.90 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.56. The company has a market capitalization of $135.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup 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.