Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Lowers Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 487,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129,013 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $34,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 100,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,060,000 after acquiring an additional 30,587 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 405,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,557,000 after purchasing an additional 56,432 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 176,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,391,000 after purchasing an additional 33,641 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 49,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 20,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 291.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 17,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on C shares. StockNews.com lowered Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 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. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $70.28 on Monday. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.