Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 418,784 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,027,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 418,784 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.10% of Citigroup worth $1,316,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,716,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,005,749,000 after purchasing an additional 17,525,484 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the first quarter worth approximately $253,286,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 527.5% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,498,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,135 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP increased its position in Citigroup by 7,393.3% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 2,015,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,988,494 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 26.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,280,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,929,000 after buying an additional 1,092,980 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Price Performance

C opened at $68.28 on Thursday. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.56 and a fifty-two week high of $70.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.84 and a 200 day moving average of $62.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $129.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.20. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $20.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Citigroup from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Citigroup from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

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.