Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 61,152 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 694,493 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,152 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Citigroup were worth $48,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company's stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company's stock worth $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company's stock worth $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company's stock worth $501,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company's stock worth $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.65. 14,902,958 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,626,512. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.32. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The stock has a market cap of $150.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on C shares. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.93.

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.