Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock Price Up 2.7% - Time to Buy?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) shares rose 2.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.60 and last traded at $64.41. Approximately 2,301,841 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 14,380,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on C shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.61.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.4 %

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $70.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Citigroup's payout ratio is presently 35.39%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company's stock worth $2,853,484,000 after acquiring an additional 667,357 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Citigroup by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,561,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,714,359,000 after purchasing an additional 815,003 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company's stock worth $2,311,048,000 after buying an additional 2,804,850 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 455.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company's stock worth $2,206,908,000 after buying an additional 25,705,141 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.