Norges Bank Buys Shares of 27,498,205 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 27,498,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,599,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 94.8% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 5,816 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Citigroup by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 56,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $73.20 on Thursday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $137.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.53.

Citigroup 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.