Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 328,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,141,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company's stock worth $24,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,674 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,247,095 shares of the company's stock worth $1,143,633,000 after buying an additional 1,970,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company's stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.5 %

C traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.69. The company had a trading volume of 4,441,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,392,132. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $129.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.59 and a 200-day moving average of $71.13.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. As a group, analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Citigroup's payout ratio is 35.39%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on C shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.04.

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.