Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in C. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 27,856 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Citigroup by 1.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $81.32 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.63 and a 200-day moving average of $68.32. 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 twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $153.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

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.