Boston Partners Cuts Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,668,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,242 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Citigroup were worth $117,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 108,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,629,000 after purchasing an additional 13,278 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,563,000. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 34,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,375,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.4 %

C stock opened at $70.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.11. The company has a market capitalization of $132.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

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. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on C. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.