First Business Financial Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

First Business Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,999 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $2,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Citigroup by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Citigroup by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 8,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 6,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C opened at $72.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a PEG 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 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on C. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.