Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires Shares of 236,000 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 236,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,612,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,664 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter valued at about $1,270,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company's stock worth $22,236,000 after buying an additional 8,301 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 280.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 952,909 shares of the company's stock worth $59,655,000 after buying an additional 702,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 5,285 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Citigroup stock traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.05. 13,014,538 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,220,211. The stock has a market cap of $107.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.97. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.51 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74.

Remove Ads

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on C shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.54.

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.