Ascent Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its ownership in Citigroup Inc. by 18.0%, acquiring an additional 6,580 shares, bringing its holdings to 43,085 shares worth approximately $3,059,000.
• Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00, while ten analysts have rated the stock as a buy, giving it an average target of $96.96.
• Citigroup recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60, up from the previous $0.56, with a dividend yield of 2.5%.

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,085 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,580 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 179.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,534,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,031,790,000 after acquiring an additional 9,334,038 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the 1st quarter valued at $578,100,000. Amundi increased its stake in Citigroup by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,713,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $973,523,000 after purchasing an additional 6,026,268 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Citigroup by 6.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,101,459 shares of the company's stock worth $2,917,794,000 after buying an additional 2,539,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2,230.8% in the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 2,630,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,726,000 after buying an additional 2,517,459 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Citigroup from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.96.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE C traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $99.51. 9,502,253 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,405,087. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.41. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.51 and a 52 week high of $99.70.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.44%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Citigroup has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total transaction of $271,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at $193,456. The trade was a 58.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citigroup Company 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.