Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 254,264 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,256,282 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 254,264 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $299,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after buying an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,014,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,112,698,000 after buying an additional 1,043,826 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,935,599,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Citigroup Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:C opened at $71.08 on Tuesday. 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 $76.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $133.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

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

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

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.