Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,201,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,882 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $999,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Core Alternative Capital lifted its position in Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $77.14 on Tuesday. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.51 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $145.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. 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 2.90%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citigroup Company 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.