3,244 Shares in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Purchased by Aire Advisors LLC

Aire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 6.1% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 15.5% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 38,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after buying an additional 5,164 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Citigroup by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter worth $3,696,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE C opened at $74.12 on Tuesday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.42.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.02%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This 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 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.