Berkshire Hathaway Inc Sells 40,605,295 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc cut its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 73.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,639,502 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,605,295 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for 0.4% of Berkshire Hathaway Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Berkshire Hathaway Inc owned approximately 0.77% of Citigroup worth $1,030,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Core Alternative Capital lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,073,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,377,622. The company has a market cap of $134.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.40. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup's payout ratio is presently 35.39%.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $890,656.48. This represents a 25.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,007 shares of company stock worth $8,824,653 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Citigroup from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.