Citigroup Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:C)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 157,271 call options on the company. This is an increase of 43% compared to the typical volume of 109,869 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Citigroup from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.06.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of C. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Citigroup by 123.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,716,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,005,749,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525,484 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,007,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,904,262,000 after purchasing an additional 250,716 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Citigroup by 5.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in Citigroup by 1.5% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after buying an additional 242,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of C opened at $69.05 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Citigroup has a twelve month low of $41.93 and a twelve month high of $70.20.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.20. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Citigroup will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

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.