Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Key Points

• Prudential PLC sold 87,353 shares of Citigroup Inc., reducing its stake by 30.5% to a total of 198,782 shares, valued at approximately $14.1 million.
• Citigroup's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $1.96 against an anticipated $1.61, along with a revenue of $21.67 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.60 per share, which equates to an annual yield of 2.5%, reflecting a growth from the previous dividend of $0.56.

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,782 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,353 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $14,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in C. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Solitude Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 0.9% during the first quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 16,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 0.5% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 27,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,936,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 14.3% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $271,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $193,456. This trade represents a 58.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.54.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C traded down $1.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.66. 11,998,955 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,281,200. 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 capitalization of $172.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $87.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.86.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

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

Citigroup 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.