Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stake in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.6% to 13,844,014 shares, representing about 0.77% of the company and worth roughly $1.405 billion.
• Insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares at an average price of $111.09 on Feb. 13, reducing his position by 48.5%; company insiders now own 0.08% of Citigroup.
• Wall Street consensus is a "Moderate Buy" (14 Buys, 5 Holds) with an average price target of $127.25; Citigroup recently beat EPS ($1.81 vs. $1.65), missed revenue estimates, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.60 (annualized yield ~2.3%).

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,844,014 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 219,100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.77% of Citigroup worth $1,405,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 87.6% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 257 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 92.2% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 319 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.09, for a total transaction of $4,796,088.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,091,810.15. This trade represents a 48.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Citigroup from $141.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler set a $135.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $152.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.25.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of C opened at $106.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $115.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.89. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.51 and a 1-year high of $125.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $19.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.99 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.43%.

More Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual bullish options flow: traders bought a large block of call options (93,383 contracts, ~25% above the daily average), signaling short-term bullish positioning or hedging by institutional players that can lift near-term demand for the shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Citigroup to a Rank #2 (Buy), citing improved earnings prospects — analyst upgrades can attract fresh inflows and support price momentum. All You Need to Know About Citigroup (C) Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: TradeSmith flagged Citigroup in its "Green Zone" for financial health, reinforcing investor perception of balance-sheet strength and supporting dividend/total-return narratives. 3 Non-Tech Stocks in TradeSmith's Green Zone for Financial Health (C)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/technology innovation: Citi issued the first digitally native structured note on Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT platform — a signal that the bank is leveraging new infrastructure for capital-markets and wealth-management clients, which could support fee revenue growth. Citi Issues Inaugural Digitally Native Structured Note on Euroclear's D-FMI DLT Platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Advisory role on M&A: Bloomberg reports Blackstone working with Citi on a revived sale of ShyaHsin Packaging — a recurring advisory engagement can boost fee income but is transaction-dependent. Blackstone Is Said to Work With Citi on Revived Sale of ShyaHsin Packaging
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/regulatory backdrop: Reports that traditional banks may challenge OCC crypto charter approvals highlight ongoing regulatory friction in fintech/crypto policy — a sector-level risk that could influence Citi if it ramps crypto activity or advisory work. Traditional Banks Consider Lawsuit Against OCC Over Crypto Charter Approvals
• Neutral Sentiment: Stablecoin ecosystem funding: large raises for payments/crypto firms (e.g., Kast) show continued fintech competition and infrastructure build — both potential partners and competitors for bank services. Stablecoin payments firm Kast raises $80M at $600M valuation: Report
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG concern: Citi posted the largest fall among banks in a global gender ranking, which could draw investor scrutiny on diversity and governance metrics and pressure ESG-focused funds or corporate reputation. Citi suffers largest fall among banks in global gender ranking

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi's principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.

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