Spartan Fund Management Inc. Invests $598,000 in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Spartan Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000. Citigroup accounts for about 2.2% of Spartan Fund Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.7% in the fourth 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. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE C opened at $64.59 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $121.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.01. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 35.39%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.