Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 136,803 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Brandes Investment Partners LP decreased its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,966,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,803 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for about 2.3% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.16% of Citigroup worth $208,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Citigroup by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after buying an additional 8,301 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 200,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,139,000 after buying an additional 22,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on C. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In related news, 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 value of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $68.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.89.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

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

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.