Fmr LLC Buys 7,863,718 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,362,176 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,863,718 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned 1.82% of Citigroup worth $2,418,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 1,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 11,561 shares of the company's stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 10,664 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the third quarter worth about $1,270,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company's stock worth $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 5,285 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 8.6% during the third quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,893 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Barclays raised Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:C traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.41. The stock had a trading volume of 14,284,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,376,680. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.60 and its 200-day moving average is $70.93. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $115.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Citigroup's payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.