Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,506 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,506 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,853,484,000 after buying an additional 667,357 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,311,048,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804,850 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,014,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,112,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,826 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,935,599,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $58.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.95. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $109.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over 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.