Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 1,770,507 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Citigroup by 1.1%, now holding about 164.7 million shares worth approximately $11.69 billion.
• Citigroup reported earnings of $1.96 per share, significantly surpassing analyst estimates and reflecting an 8.2% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.56 to $0.60 per share, representing a 2.6% yield, with a payout ratio of 35.45%.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,703,439 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,770,507 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.75% of Citigroup worth $11,692,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 20.8% during the first quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 69,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 11,978 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 109.0% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 1,246,061 shares of the company's stock worth $88,458,000 after buying an additional 649,807 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 166.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company's stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 12,499 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 495.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 18,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 15,436 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related 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 transaction, the director owned 2,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,456. The trade was a 58.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $91.31. The stock had a trading volume of 12,938,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,932,436. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.38. 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 0.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $85.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.33.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $84.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.54.

About Citigroup

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.