Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 874,714 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 145,218 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $61,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Core Alternative Capital grew its holdings in Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE C opened at $70.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.63. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G 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 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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s quarterly 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.