Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 56,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,007 shares of company stock valued at $8,824,653. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.04.

Citigroup Stock Up 3.6 %

C stock traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.57. The company had a trading volume of 13,286,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,422,031. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.15. The company has a market capitalization of $132.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74.

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

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.39%.

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.