Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Decreases Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Key Points

• Persistent Asset Partners Ltd has reduced its stake in Citigroup Inc. by 15.8% in the first quarter, owning 20,931 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million.
• Citigroup recently reported $1.96 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations and achieving a revenue increase of 8.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from $0.56, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd reduced its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,931 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,922 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises about 1.2% of Persistent Asset Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd's holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Citigroup by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,561,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,714,359,000 after buying an additional 815,003 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,206,908,000 after buying an additional 25,705,141 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Citigroup by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,232,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,424,169,000 after buying an additional 2,467,958 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Citigroup by 3.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,839,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,195,466,000 after buying an additional 592,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 9,334,038 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Citigroup stock opened at $92.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.42. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.51 and a 1-year high of $96.90. 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 stock has a market cap of $169.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.38.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The business's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Citigroup's payout ratio is presently 35.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,456. The trade was a 58.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on C shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Citigroup from $84.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Citigroup from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Citigroup from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.54.

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.

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