AIA Group Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,298 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,587 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 216.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 8,197 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter worth $316,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth $919,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $70.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $132.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.81. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

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.