Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 294.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,469 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,512 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the third 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. Caxton Associates LP lifted its position in Citigroup by 96.1% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 3,952,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937,038 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 valued at $283,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,628 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Citigroup by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company's stock worth $501,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company's stock worth $981,347,000 after buying an additional 1,404,120 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on C. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE C traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.74. 15,404,306 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,740,801. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $71.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $154.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.95 and a 1-year high of $81.85.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business 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 business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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.