Aviva PLC Purchases 151,042 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,149,956 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 151,042 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of Citigroup worth $80,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in C. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company's stock worth $24,844,000 after buying an additional 11,674 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Citigroup by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Citigroup by 34.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on C shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 note on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.54.

Citigroup Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of C stock traded down $1.97 on Wednesday, reaching $56.80. 11,983,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,212,419. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.30 and a 200-day moving average of $70.97. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one 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 $106.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Citigroup's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup 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 owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % 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 worth $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.