Fred Alger Management LLC Buys New Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 219,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,439,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Family Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 84,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,798,000 after acquiring an additional 3,860 shares during the period. Chescapmanager LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $11,620,000. Eagle Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Collar Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $2,789,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 730.8% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 8,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 7,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $71.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.57 and a 200-day moving average of $71.40. The company has a market cap of $134.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.39%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on C shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,007 shares of company stock worth $8,824,653. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.