Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Shares Acquired by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. significantly boosted its stake in Citigroup by 8,378.7%, acquiring over 1.2 million shares and now holding 1,221,015 shares total.
• Several other hedge funds have also increased their investments in Citigroup, with institutional ownership now at 71.72% of the company's stock.
• Citigroup recently announced a dividend increase from $0.56 to $0.60 per share, with a yield of 2.52%, effective August 22nd.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 8,378.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,221,015 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,206,614 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises 1.3% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Phoenix Financial Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Citigroup worth $86,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Citigroup by 166.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $274,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,844,000 after buying an additional 11,674 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in Citigroup by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 16,078 shares of the company's stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $77,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $890,656.48. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $107.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citigroup from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.46.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:C traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $96.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,537,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,283,003. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $96.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.09%.

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.