Quantessence Capital LLC Takes Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,940,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company's stock worth $24,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,674 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Citigroup by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company's stock worth $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 27,856 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company's stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,247,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,143,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on C shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 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. Bank of America reduced their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of C stock traded up $0.31 on Friday, reaching $68.47. 12,248,567 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,426,578. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.01. The stock has a market cap of $128.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

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

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.