Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 44.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,249 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 55,539 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $12,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Citigroup by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $198,231,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Citigroup by 70.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % 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, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.2 %

C opened at $71.93 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on C. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.53.

Citigroup Company 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.