Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 10,736 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,295,763 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,736 shares during the period. Citigroup accounts for approximately 1.2% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $795,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of C. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after buying an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $198,231,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Citigroup by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’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 owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $73.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.55. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted 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. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.53.

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.