Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $1.01 Million Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Sowell Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,307 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,988 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in C. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 8,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $67.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.83. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $126.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.