Axa S.A. Grows Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

AXA S.A. grew its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360,901 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,505 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Citigroup were worth $25,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.04.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:C traded up $1.36 on Thursday, hitting $71.61. 12,693,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,414,194. 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 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $134.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $67.68 and its 200 day moving average is $71.33.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.34 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.13%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.39%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $301,504.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,007 shares of company stock valued at $8,824,653. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.