Citigroup (NYSE:C) Trading Down 3.9% - Time to Sell?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $60.50 and last traded at $61.67. 6,588,993 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 14,346,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays raised Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.54.

Citigroup Stock Performance

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 fifty day moving average price of $72.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.01. The firm has a market cap of $118.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 1st quarter worth $2,585,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 11,853 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 14.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 41,244 shares of the company's stock worth $2,928,000 after buying an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 28.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 27,914 shares of the company's stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 6,242 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.