Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 50,565 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,565 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $18,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of C. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 17,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth about $248,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,777,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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. 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of C opened at $67.56 on Wednesday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $127.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.78 and its 200 day moving average is $69.87.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given 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 dividend yield of 3.32%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

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

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.