Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) COO Anand Selvakesari Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.12. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $1,935,599,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Citigroup by 455.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,908,000 after purchasing an additional 25,705,141 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,863,718 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in 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 during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.