Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 94,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,643,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at $1,935,599,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,863,718 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Citigroup by 18.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after buying an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Citigroup by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company's stock worth $586,120,000 after buying an additional 3,947,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $198,231,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:C traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.21. The stock had a trading volume of 7,772,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,761,824. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.01. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $118.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.