Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock Price

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $103.00 to $107.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.51% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Citigroup from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.46.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,590,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,675,328. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Citigroup has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $93.80. The company has a market capitalization of $174.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.45.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. Citigroup had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Citigroup's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $301,504.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total value of $271,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,456. This trade represents a 58.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the first quarter worth about $28,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 106.0% in the first quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 131.6% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 433 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

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.