Citigroup (NYSE:C) Given New $78.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $85.00 to $78.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.36% from the stock's previous close.

C has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.61.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE C traded up $1.13 on Wednesday, reaching $63.23. 14,653,830 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,424,032. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $71.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.98. Citigroup has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $119.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,853,484,000 after purchasing an additional 667,357 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,561,690 shares of the company's stock worth $2,714,359,000 after buying an additional 815,003 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after buying an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Citigroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company's stock worth $2,311,048,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Citigroup by 455.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company's stock worth $2,206,908,000 after acquiring an additional 25,705,141 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.