Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 328,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,141,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of C. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,674 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Citigroup by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,247,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 12,280 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on C. StockNews.com downgraded Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.61.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C opened at $68.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $128.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.10.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

Citigroup declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.