Baird Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,669 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,518 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Citigroup were worth $25,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in C. Core Alternative Capital increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Citigroup by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,007 shares of company stock valued at $8,824,653. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $70.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.35. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $132.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.34 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on C. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.04.

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.

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