Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Lowers Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 505,572 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,557 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up approximately 3.4% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $35,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:C opened at $79.78 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.31. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week 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 cap of $150.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on C shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

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.