World Equity Group Inc. Buys 378 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter valued at $4,607,000. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Citigroup by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,115,000 after buying an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter valued at about $87,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 920.4% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 18,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 16,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 49.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 22,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 7,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $79.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

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.